Khan on the pedestrianisation of London’s streets: ‘Watch this space’

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street earlier this week, which he said will revitalise the area and bring customers back.

It’s the second time the Mayor has tried to pedestrianise the street, which welcomes some 500,000 visitors a day, with his last attempt in 2018 blocked by Westminster council. He has said this time they will “work closely” together.

Khan announced the proposals to turn Oxford Street into a traffic-free avenue alongside a wider regeneration of the shopping destination.

“[Retailers say] they have competition from online retail, they have competition from out-of -own centre shopping centres. They have had flagship stores leaving this street already, whether it’s Debenhams or House of Fraser, [and] the proliferation of US candy stores doesn’t help the the sort of customer they want,” Khan said.

Speaking at an event on the rooftop of John Lewis’ flagship Oxford Street store, Khan said the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street was “part of the solution” to make shopping in central London a more attractive experience.

“I’m somebody who likes touching fabric. I like trying on clothes, I like touching and feeding the stuff I’m going to buy. I was here on Saturday – my experience with John Lewis was great, my experience on Oxford Street awful,” he said.

“To reinvent the street to pedestrianised part of the street will attract more visitors, it will attract more tourists,” he added. “That means more customers for the retailers.”

Footfall in the UK fell for the thirteen consecutive month in August – down by 0.3 per cent after a 3.3 per cent drop in July.

Pedestrianisation plans would be delivered via the creation of a new mayoral development area, City Hall said, with the backing of the new Labour government.

He said the scheme will benefit from revamped transport links.

“The big game changes since I last had plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street is the Elizabeth line… one of the world’s finest, if not the finest, rail line,” Khan said.

“We’ll also work closely with TfL councils and residents to make sure buses can stop on one side of Oxford street using my hopper fare… We’ll be working with disabled groups, disabled residents to make sure the side roads can have drop off and pick up points for taxis and mini cabs,” he added.

And does he have plans to pedestrianise any other areas of London?

“Watch this space.”