'It's magical': London's iconic Oxford Street goes vehicle-free as pedestrianisation begins

Part of London's iconic Oxford Street is now vehicle-free. From Monday, the road from Great Portland Street to Orchard Street is a pedestrian-only zone: the cars have gone, and so have the buses. On a characteristically rainy, grey day, biology teacher Muneera Alfadhel, standing under her umbrella, described the change as 'magical'.

For generations, shoppers have bustled along Oxford Street next to bikes, cars, black cabs and red double-decker buses. Alfadhel was among the first to walk down the middle of the street following its pedestrianisation.

On Monday morning, by force of habit, most pedestrians were still sticking to the pavement. Forensic scientist Mark Arbouine was one of the few breaking ranks, walking down the middle of the street. He said he saw there was no traffic and took advantage of it, adding that it is great for the environment, great for shopping and much easier to move around the street.

This tiny strip of real estate is big business: about 1 percent of the UK's annual gross domestic product (GDP) is generated along this 1km (0.6 miles) stretch. Despite that importance, Oxford Street has in recent decades been hit by lower consumer spending, falling rents and footfall, which is now just 57 percent of what it was in 2006, according to the New West End Company, a retail trade body.

The Greater London Authority, also known as City Hall, believes pedestrianisation could offer the street a lifeline. City Hall analysis suggests the partial pedestrianisation could generate more than $109m per year and support an additional 700 jobs. Following a weekend trial in October 2025, two-thirds of businesses in the area said they had higher or similar sales figures during the pedestrianisation.

This is the first step in a multi-phase regeneration project to add two public squares, 50 trees and hundreds of public seating.

Barbara Stoll, a leading campaigner on the benefits of greener, more walkable cities, was smiling as she observed the street. She said the air already feels cleaner and the noise is considerably lower, and that she saw people coming up from the tube looking around excitedly, almost like children on Christmas Day.

On Saturday, ahead of the change, not all shoppers were convinced. A French tourist said he would avoid Oxford Street altogether if buses and cabs were no longer allowed through. Another shopper raised the position of people with disabilities who cannot walk a lot, for whom it would help if the buses were not discontinued, noting that sometimes people are tired and sometimes it is raining.

The pedestrianisation of Oxford Street has been years in the making, and not without controversy. London Mayor Sadiq Khan first tried it in 2017, following a manifesto pledge. The plan fell apart in 2018, when Westminster Council, the local authority responsible for Oxford Street at the time, withdrew its backing, saying residents did not support it.

Following a public consultation, Khan created the Oxford Street Development Corporation, taking responsibility for the street away from local officials and transferring it to the Greater London Authority and Transport for London. With this second, successful attempt, doubts from local authorities have not gone away.

Councillor Tim Barnes, Westminster's deputy leader and cabinet member for growth and planning, said residents are not being listened to and that the communication process has been pretty much one way, with residents mostly being told what will happen. He believes the economic benefits are overstated and do not consider the impact of displacing bus routes from a major road to the surrounding smaller streets. Resident Nerma Cridge shared that fear, saying London's West End will become 'completely unliveable, too crowded and too noisy at night'.

Stoll believes concerns will fade once residents see the real-world results in the coming months, saying examples from across Europe and the world prove such projects make life better overall for local residents, boost retail, reduce air pollution and let people take back the space. The Oxford Street Development Corporation will be testing and reviewing the results in the coming months and reviewing its findings early next year. Transitioning the rest of Oxford Street into a permanent, traffic-free public space is expected to go ahead by the end of next year. Ahead of mayoral elections in 2028, the pedestrianisation could be one of the last major initiatives Sadiq Khan signs off.