Oxford Street Goes Traffic-Free: First Phase Opens in London

By Marcus Bennett

On Monday, October 26, almost a kilometer of Oxford Street—from Orchard Street to Great Portland Street—became traffic-free, the first tangible step in a pedestrianization scheme Sadiq Khan first proposed in 2016.

The section is now closed to private motorized vehicles, buses, taxis, private hire vehicles, cycles, scooters and pedicabs. For practitioners, the significance is procedural as much as physical: the Mayor created the Oxford Street Development Corporation (OSDC), a Mayoral Development Corporation with the power to take over planning authority from Westminster City Council.

Why Did the Project Take a Decade?

The timeline explains the delivery model. Khan expressed his intention to pedestrianize the street in 2016, with completion originally planned for 2020. After two public consultations, the project was blocked in 2018. It resumed in 2024, followed by two further consultations that showed majority support among respondents. Final approval came in February 2026.

London-based landscape and urban design practice East leads the project. Its subconsultant team includes:

• Gehl, the global urban strategy and design consultancy
• Publica, research and urban design practice
• J&L Gibbons, landscape architects
• Etude, sustainability and low-energy building consultants
• NRP, transport consultants

Working in parallel, Hawkins\Brown is developing a long-term design vision for the entire street, extending from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road.

What Does the Transition Phase Change?

The current works are deliberately provisional. They remove road markings and add seating, planting and signage. A textured stone surfacing will guide movement down the street, while larger pavers will mark north-south crossings.

East has framed the design in literary terms, drawing on descriptions of the street by Henry James and Virginia Woolf, which capture its spectacle and historic image. The stated objective is to give Oxford Street "a distinct character and a richer, more varied life." Beyond the street's existing range of shops, the program calls for new workplaces, leisure facilities, and cultural and hospitality destinations.

Street furniture combines timber and steel benches, placed where they do not obstruct circulation. Seating at regular intervals aims to support sitting, meeting, eating and resting, with timber seats and tables positioned on distinct surface textures that signal stopping points. East will test furniture configurations through the transition to confirm they are usable, welcoming and suitable.

How Will the Permanent Scheme Be Designed?

The transition doubles as a live research phase. Sensors built into the furniture will monitor the flow of people and duration of use, and this data will directly shape the permanent design. The OSDC and East will also collect feedback from residents, accessibility groups, businesses, workers, transport partners and other Londoners to inform later phases.

The landscape strategy addresses performance as well as amenity: tree planting aims to mitigate the urban heat island effect, capture carbon, intercept rainwater and increase biodiversity. Trees will grow in large pots until ready for permanent planting in the ground. Later phases will deliver two new public squares marked with a new surface dressing—one close to Holles Street, the other close to Duke Street.

Construction of the permanent scheme between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street is expected to begin later in 2027, with completion anticipated in 2028. For designers watching Westminster, the project offers a working template: sensor data, staged furniture trials and an empowered development corporation as instruments for converting a contested street into calibrated public space.