Oxford Street West

Oxford Street is arguably London’s most well-known thoroughfare and it is the most important retail centre in the United Kingdom attracting approximately 3.5 million visitors each week. Despite this, Oxford Street is affected by a number of issues that deter people from visiting.

Some of these deterrents are related to the crowding on footways, which results in pedestrian comfort being compromised. The street also has poor air quality, and conflicts between different road users are common and create road safety issues.

In 2018, the opening of the Elizabeth line (Crossrail), a major new east-west rail line across London, will have a fundamental impact on Oxford Street. The Crossrail station at Bond Street will increase by almost a fifth the number of people living within 45 minutes of the area by public transport. This presents a clear opportunity for Oxford Street, but could also exacerbate existing issues.

Steer Davies Gleave has been working collaboratively with Transport for London, Westminster City Council and a wider consultant team, examining a range of options for improving the western section of Oxford Street (between Marble Arch and Oxford Circus). These range from smaller scale interventions through to full pedestrianisation.

We have worked to resolve a multitude of complex issues that are inherent in each option. For example, we have examined how bus routes, bus stops and bus stands are affected in each option, both in order to create solutions that function at a strategic level, delivering a coherent bus network that provides useful links, and at a detailed level that makes bus stop locations compatible with footway widths and abutting land uses.

We have also developed and applied a transport impact assessment framework, which links to the West End Partnership’s strategic vision for the area. Our framework enables the relative advantages and disadvantages of each option to be measured and compared against a broad range of objectives, informed by analysis undertaken by us and our partners. This high profile project is ongoing, and we hope that it will ultimately lead to improvements to Oxford Street that make it a place where people—both Londoners and visitors alike—enjoy spending time.

We have also worked extensively on other projects in the West End, including the Deliveries & Servicing Plans project (see right), Westminster Walking Strategy (which is out to consultation), and Marylebone Low Emission Neighbourhood bid, which has been successful and secured Westminster City Council £1 million towards improving air quality in Marylebone. This gives us unrivalled insight into transport issues and stakeholders in this area.