The slow motion arrival of a scheme to pedestrianise Oxford Street is about the only big bold thing Sadiq has done since the elections in May a year ago.
It’s not really big or bold enough though. Even if Sadiq can crack on using a government-backed Mayoral Development Corporation, to get past the opposition from (some) Westminster residents, then the scheme goes nowhere near far enough and will itself cause knock-on issues that means the rest of the west end will have to change too.
Meanwhile, Paris has just announced it’s pedestrianising another 500 city centre streets on top of the 200 it already did!
Obviously for LCC, a big concern is also that cycling is set to be banned along Oxford Street under the pedestrianisation scheme.
TfL’s own analysis of cycling potential in the area demands four high-quality and direct routes in the area – but so far Sadiq and Westminster Council are only talking about one wiggly route riding in ratruns far north of Oxford Street itself.
At the same time, the scheme proposed for Oxford Street is likely to see buses moved off the street and into surrounding areas, as well as taxis, and there’ll be a lot of traffic moving in the area still.
Unless Sadiq works with Westminster to tackle the surrounding areas, then it’s likely the broader west end could get more crowded, congested and cycle-unfriendly. We need Sadiq to step up on the whole west end – for London’s centre to be better than Paris’.