With a change of government, it looks like the long-formulated plan to pedestrianise London’s Oxford Street might finally happen and the mayor of London wants to take drive it forward fast, a new plan being announced this week.

Sadiq Khan has unveiled a plan to ban traffic from the UK’s most famous shopping street. The proposed changes would pedestrianise the area from Oxford Circus to Marble Arch with potential to extend the traffic ban up to Tottenham Court Road.

Khan believes that a fully pedestrianised street would get more visitors who would spend more, with a knock-on effect on tax revenues.

The street already sees around 500,000 daily visits, a strong bounce-back since the pandemic when footfall withered to almost nothing as non-essential stores were closed.

Khan will be given power to overrule Westminster council, which blocked his previous pedestrianisation attempt after a public consultation and on the back of concerns over bus rerouting and the impact on nearby streets.

He still needs to overrule the council despite the fact that it’s been controlled by Labour since 2022 (the last big pedestrianisation plan was axed under the Conservative-controlled council pre-pandemic). The council remains concerned about the plan and said it only learned about it late last week. But it also promised to “work constructively” with the mayor. 

The mayor wants to see urgent action on the idea that has been regularly floated since the 1960s. But with the political changes post-pandemic and the gradual decline of traffic on the street as buses have been steadily rerouted anyway, opposition could be less strong now.

Sadiq Khan said he aims to make Oxford Street “once again the leading retail destination in the world” after a bruising few years that have seen it blighted by ‘American candy stores’ and short-stay souvenir shops. This came along with the demise of some leading department stores and other key stores like Topshop, and a general flight from the street on the part of major global flagships.

But with the Elizabeth Line transport link now fully operational, new store development ramping up with flagships coming back, and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner ready to give the green light to a proposed mayoral development area, everything could be in place to hit the ‘start’ button.

Westminster council has remained opposed to full pedestrianisation even since the change of control from Conservative to Labour two years ago. It has been working on its own £90 million regeneration plans that would make the street more pedestrian-friendly for some time, but this will now be suspended.

Opposition hasn’t only come from Westminster council though as Steve McNamara, of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, said the cab ranks outside John Lewis and Selfridges were among London’s busiest. And he said banning traffic would ignore accessibility needs for some visitors.

But retailers seem mainly supportive. John Lewis executive director Peter Rui said he was “delighted to see the plans”. And New West End Company CEO Dee Corsi was generally encouraging but urged those concerned to “move swiftly to deliver this project”.

Not that work can be started instantly as a statutory consultation and approval by the London assembly is required and estimates suggest the pedestrianisation might be in place by 2027.