Plans ‘enhance traffic movement and capacity’ around Oxford Street

Westminster Council has admitted for the first time that its Oxford Street Programme will displace motor traffic into Fitzrovia and Marylebone.

Buried in a report providing a progress update on the Oxford Street Programme (OSP) to councillors on the Housing and Regeneration Policy and Scrutiny Committee there is a candidness all too rare in local government.

“The enabling highway schemes are essential highway improvements/changes that seek to enhance traffic movement and capacity in the wider Oxford Street area and support the delivery of the Oxford Street project,” states the report of Cllr Geoff Baraclough, the cabinet member for planning and economic development.

“These include Marylebone / Fitzrovia, Eastcastle and Oxford Street West schemes and were consulted upon in the OSP consultation in Summer 2023,” states the report.

However, the public consultation only mentioned “more direct vehicle routes” for motor traffic, not additional “capacity”.

The work on Mortimer Street and Wigmore Street was originally planned for this month but will now start in March.

“Enabling highway scheme construction is planned to commence in the Marylebone/Fitzrovia project area on Wigmore Street and Mortimer Street in March 2024,” states the report.

“Designs are being progressed for the remaining Marylebone/Fitzrovia schemes including Eastcastle Street, Margaret Street and Henrietta Place, and for projects in the Oxford Street West area.”

Again the report mentions the provision for increasing “traffic capacity”.

“The intention is to proactively construct the enabling highways schemes in advance of the works starting on Oxford Street, where possible, to provide for greater traffic capacity in the area.”

The result of this is that traffic will not only be diverted through the side streets for a temporary period during the public realm works on Oxford Street but also that Mortimer Street and Wigmore Street are being designed with extra motor vehicle capacity in mind.

It’s a better scheme than the previous Conservative council’s plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street and divert buses and taxis through the neighbourhood.

But the new restrictions on private vehicles along Oxford Street mean there will be an increase in motor vehicle traffic in Fitzrovia and Marylebone — something that local residents knew all along.

Westminster City Council: Housing and Regeneration Policy and Scrutiny Committee – Monday 4 March 2024.