A big win for London

Good news! The Mayor has revived his plans for a traffic-free Oxford Street, this time with support from government. If it goes ahead, it’s a big win for London. But what does it mean for cycling in Westminster?

Taking motor traffic off the ‘nation’s high street’ is a no-brainer – we supported it in 2017 and we support it now. Since the Mayor was re-elected in May we’ve been calling on him to be bold on climate, physical inactivity, road danger, congestion – in other words to meet the targets in his own Transport Strategy. That includes tackle car-dominated town centres in outer London and making central London ‘car-free’ (e.g. timed deliveries only). Of course, this also would massively re-boot an iconic destination and help make the West End far more palatable and attractive once more – so this is a big win for us all round.

Cycling on Oxford Street

It looks like the plans will ban cycling on Oxford Street for most of the day in these proposals. We think that’s a shame. And is it necessary? Internationally, city centre car-free streets tend to allow cycling to be part of the mix. But we’re not losing sleep over it, so long as there are cycle routes parallel to Oxford Street that are truly safe, inclusive and high quality.

“There must be cycle routes parallel to Oxford Street that are truly safe, inclusive and high quality”

Even with cycling allowed on Oxford Street, Transport for London’s strategic cycling analysis highlights that not one or even two, but three parallel routes, two north of Oxford Street and one south, have extremely high potential for more cycling. And let’s not forget that despite the traffic and chaos, Oxford Street is already a popular cycle route – the Department for Transport estimated 4,500 trips per day last year. It forms part of an east-west popular corridor for cycling that is slowly being improved with Theobald Road, Clerkenwell Road and Old Street. So removing Oxford Street from the cycle network will mean those parallel routes become absolutely crucial. Westminster City Council will need to up its game on high-quality cycleways, given the recent signs of inaction and lack of ambition, despite the recent switch to a Labour council that has promised much.

The wider area: tackle the through traffic

What scuppered the Mayor’s plans for a pedestrianised Oxford Street in 2017 was a highly effective campaign by Westminster residents, convinced that displaced traffic would flood their streets in surrounding neighbourhoods such as Marylebone. But there’s an obvious answer to that. Westminster City Council needs to respond to residents’ concerns by offering to remove through traffic from residential streets, aka create low traffic neighbourhoods.

“Westminster City Council needs to respond to residents’ concerns by offering to remove through traffic from residential streets, aka create low traffic neighbourhoods”

Removing through traffic from Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Mayfair and above all Soho is long overdue and would be transformational, restoring the original charm of these neighbourhoods as places where people have priority over vehicles – rambling down the middle of the road, enjoying stress-free al fresco dining – like so many other continental city centres. Car ownership in Westminster is below 30% and falling, but too many neighbourhood roads carry vehicles such as delivery vans that are simply using the area as a shortcut. A recent council report says “Freight traffic is considerable, with over 30% of all vehicle movements passing through without stopping in central Westminster.”

If the neighbourhoods surrounding Oxford Street dropped motor traffic levels dramatically, that’s a viable cycle network – if you add strategic safer junctions and crossings to link them up. Much easier and cheaper than building miles of protected cycle lanes!

Car-free central London?

The stars seem to be aligned, with a Westminster council, London Mayor and national government all of the same political stripe for the first time, and the City to the east also pushing for less motor traffic. If Transport for London and Westminster City Council can work together, it’s not impossible that they could produce the stuff of dreams – a largely traffic-free West End. Imagine that!