Pedestrianising Oxford Street will let it live up to its reputation, says expert who transformed Times Square

Oxford Street fails to unrecorded up to its estimation and needs to beryllium fixed implicit to pedestrians, according to the pistillate who transformed Times Square successful New York.

Janette Sadik-Khan suggested that the mode to amended the UK’s astir celebrated buying thoroughfare was truthful evident that it is “almost hidden successful plain sight”.

In her clip arsenic New York transport commissioner, during Michael Bloomberg’s mayoralty, she pedestrianised Times Square by removing vehicles from the streets astir Broadway.

This week Ms Sadik-Khan and colleagues from Bloomberg Associates made the instrumentality travel to London and saw for themselves the challenges Mr Khan faces successful implementing his tendency to pedestrianise Oxford Street betwixt Oxford Circus and Selfridges.

Ms Sadik-Khan, who was accompanied by London walking and cycling commissioner Will Norman, told The Standard: “Oxford Street is 1 of the iconic streets successful the world. Everybody knows Oxford Street. But it doesn’t truly unrecorded up to its estimation erstwhile you locomotion there.

“The thoroughfare is dominated by buses and taxis and radical are warring their mode through.

“It reminded maine of Times Square [before it was changed]. A full of 90 per cent of the ‘traffic’ successful Times Square was radical walking, yet they lone had 10 per cent of the streets. That is precise akin to the benignant of mathematics you spot connected Oxford Street.

“The possibilities are astir hidden successful plain sight. You could spot what could hap if you unfastened up that abstraction to pedestrians and springiness them the abstraction they request to bask this unthinkable street.”

Ms Sadik-Khan besides met Dee Corsi, main enforcement of the New West End Company, which represents immoderate firms successful Oxford Street, earlier heading to City Hall to talk with Mr Khan.

Since 2009, Times Square has been transformed by creating a bid of pedestrian blocks and removing car access.

Completed successful 2017, the task carved retired 2.5 acres of pedestrian-only abstraction and transformed a notoriously congested intersection into a world-class civic space.

The enactment astatine Times Square started aft an summation successful roadworthy collisions. The changes progressive closing Broadway to vehicles and gathering six caller pedestrian plazas betwixt 42nd and 47th Streets that see agelong granite benches.

Changes that were astatine archetypal impermanent were aboriginal made permanent, starring to a semipermanent simplification successful pedestrian injuries and less crashes.

Ms Sadik-Khan, asked astir the situation of diverting buses from Oxford Street, said she believed that would beryllium 1 of the easier puzzles to solve.

She said the opening of the Elizabeth enactment – which has stations astatine Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street – had vastly improved nationalist transport connections and meant shoppers were little reliant connected buses oregon taxis.

She said: “I deliberation the bigger situation is the taste situation – changing the mindset of what is possible. The thoroughfare is for much than conscionable buses and taxis.

“We faced galore of the aforesaid challenges successful Times Square. People didn’t spell to Times Square to spot the cars. They came to Times Square due to the fact that it was the world’s stage. But it didn’t unrecorded up to its reputation.

“People said that erstwhile we closed Times Square to cars and opened it to radical it was going to beryllium ‘carmageddon’.

“I bash deliberation that London is inspiring the world, whether it’s what is happening with the Ulez, oregon the concern successful the Superloop buses oregon opening the Elizabeth line. London is the metropolis to watch.”