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Traffic could be banned from Oxford Street next year

Written by
Rosie Percy
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If you ask any Londoner what their worst city scenarios are, navigating Oxford Street on a Saturday is likely to come out on top. 

But that high street nightmare might soon be a thing of the past, as the Mayor of London has announced plans to pedestrianise the busy shopping strip in just 12 months.

Following his pledge last year to cut the number of buses on Oxford Street by half, Sadiq Khan is going the whole hog and getting rid of them all.

The plans, proposed by Sadiq Khan and Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council Cllr Robert Davis MBE DL, aim to pedestrianise a section of Oxford Street, turning it into the 'world's best outdoor shopping experience'.

It'll affect an area between Selfridges and Oxford Circus, with east-west routes restricted but north-south traffic staying put. Roads will be raised to pavement level to make it a wider, more accessible area for London shoppers and additional seating and a public mural will transform Oxford Street into a place to stop and relax, rather than rush away from as soon as humanly possible.

And they're not hanging around. The proposal is being publicly consulted next month on December 17, and the Mayor hopes to have work completed on that section to coincide with the unveiling of the Elizabeth Line in December 2018 - with the rest of the street being transformed by 2021.  

So far, so good. But will it stop slow walkers or those people who stop in front of you for NO. REASON. WHATSOEVER? We'll see.  

Talking of curing nightmarish London scenarios, see what one rule Londoners would make everyone follow.

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