Oxford Street Goes Car-Free: Will Pedestrianisation Revive London's Busiest Strip?
Half of Oxford Street closes to all vehicles on Oct. 26, ending decades of delay in Europe's busiest shopping corridor.
London's Oxford Street, long regarded as Europe's busiest shopping thoroughfare, will be partially closed to all motor traffic beginning Monday, October 26, marking a milestone that many in the city had doubted would ever arrive. The ban covers roughly half of the 1.2-mile stretch and applies to cars, lorries, vans, taxis, buses, bicycles, e-bikes and scooters alike, leaving only pedestrians and emergency vehicles permitted to pass through.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the pedestrianisation plan in February, and the scheme now stands to become the most consequential physical change to central London's streetscape since Trafalgar Square was converted from a traffic roundabout into a pedestrian-friendly public space in 2003. The transformation has been decades in the making, repeatedly stalled by political opposition, logistical disputes and competing commercial interests.
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For Khan, the project carries personal as well as political weight. The mayor has publicly linked his childhood asthma to London's polluted air — a theme central to his 2022 memoir and manifesto, *Breathe* — and has framed pedestrianising Oxford Street as the centerpiece of a broader agenda centered on public health, walking and cycling. The scheme will also represent the most tangible element of his mayoral legacy, regardless of whether he seeks a fourth term in 2028.
The broader question hanging over the closure is whether removing vehicles will be enough to rehabilitate a street that critics have long described as grimy, congested and unwelcoming despite its enormous foot traffic. Supporters argue that freeing the corridor from exhaust fumes and through-traffic will attract investment, improve air quality and encourage shoppers and tourists to linger rather than simply pass through. Skeptics note that physical transformation alone cannot reverse deeper structural challenges facing traditional retail.
Continue reading at Business | The Guardian.
