Central London's busy shopping destination Oxford Street could be vehicle-free by 2020 under plans revealed yesterday by the city's deputy mayor for transport, Val Shawcross.

 

Pedestrianisation of Oxford Street – a well-known air pollution hotspot largely due to the large number of buses passing along the road – has long been sought by local politicians and environmental campaigners, but the policy has now been earmarked as a priority by the new mayor Sadiq Khan.

 

It means cars and buses could be banned from driving between Tottenham Court Road and Marble Arch by the same year in which the city's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is currently set to come into force – although the mayor is consulting on bringing the ULEZ date forward from 2020 as part of his recently announced air-quality plans.

 

The Oxford Street announcement came during a London Assembly transport committee meeting yesterday, in which Shawcross suggested pedestrianisation could take place in three phases, although she emphasised it was "early days" and that work on the policy was provisional.

 

She also said that while she was a "big fan and supporter" of public buses, there was a need to be "smarter" about the way in which these services were provided in central London compared with outer London.

 

A spokesman for the mayor said the move would help improve air quality as well as make it a "far safer and more pleasant place to visit" and that further details would be confirmed in due course. (businessGreen)