Westminster City Council has opened a new consultation on its proposals for a revised Oxford Street Strategy. Their new proposal features 96 projects across 87 spaces/streets identified, with major projects at Oxford Circus, Marble Arch, Cavendish Square.
Westminster have earmarked £150 million over three years to support the realisation of the proposed plan.
The consultation is open until 16th December 2018 – to make sure your opinion is considered make sure you respond by this deadline.
All information on how you can respond can be found here.
Summary Headline Proposals:
Oxford Street will maintain two-way vehicle movement and will prioritise pedestrians, by reducing the width of the road and increasing pavements;
More space for pedestrians throughout the whole district;
Major improvements at key locations, including a new public piazza style space at Oxford Circus and a reinvigorated gateway to the West End at Marble Arch;
Encourage a year round programme of amazing cultural events and activities;
Manage traffic in a flexible way to respond to conditions, e.g. parts of the street could have restrictions at different times;
Work towards a future where all commercial vehicles that are not zero emission are banned and introduce a 20mph limit across the district;
Retain buses on Oxford Street 24 hours a day and ensure they are zero emission;
Encourage cycling and develop proposals for new cycling routes across the district;
Celebrate and revitalise the historic garden squares in the district, such as Cavendish Square;
Have more trees, planting and pop up parks;
Provide special lighting and promote world class architecture throughout the district ;
Change our planning policies, through the City Plan refresh (subject to a separate consultation), to give greater flexibility to encourage different and diverse uses such as leisure, offices, hotels and restaurants, without affecting resident amenity.