The Mayor’s plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street from Oxford Circus to near Marble Arch finally happened on 26 October. LCC is supportive of these changes despite them banning cycling from Oxford Street. This is a massive win on moves to reclaim West End space from motor vehicles and make the nation’s iconic high street far better.
Next up we need a ‘low traffic west end’. But for starters, moving thousands of daily cycling journeys off Oxford Street obviously means delivering high-quality parallel routes… right, Westminster Council? Right?... Right?
We need you to take action today to ensure Westminster Council delivers those much-needed cycle routes fast.
Westminster Council, get a move on with cycling
Traffic counts show that thousands of people have been cycling along Oxford Street daily. Where will those people go now? We have long called for direct, high-quality and high-capacity parallel routes both sides of Oxford Street as a vital addition to the plans. Recently, Westminster Council made a start: high-quality cycle tracks are being built on George Street, north of Oxford Street. But that cycleway needs to be twice the length, and the other routes need to be moving forward too.
TfL’s analysis of where highest priority cycle routes are needed shows three east-west routes on or close to Oxford Street. Routes more than 200 metres from Oxford Street, in other words, won’t fulfil cycling’s potential here nor be a direct and close enough parallel to Oxford street to tempt riders off it.
Now is the time for Westminster to act on close and high-quality parallel cycle routes.
Please ask Westminster Council to shift gears today. Without their vital parallel routes, we’re almost certain to see cyclists trying to ride along Oxford Street despite a ban AND cyclists using unsigned, unsafe routes and junction crossings through Mayfair and Marylebone.
Photo credit: Vincent Atelier