Westminster City Council has launched a new brochure setting out plans to create piazzas on two sections of Oxford Street either side of Oxford Circus. All traffic going east-west will be diverted northwards through Marylebone and Fitzrovia via John Princes Street, Mortimer Street and Great Portland Street.
Changes to traffic flows are also proposed in Fitzrovia West with part of Mortimer Street being made two-way and the direction of traffic in part of Great Titchfield Street and all of Newman Street and Berners street being reversed. A number of new pedestrian crossings are being installed.
There is no mention of any provision for cyclists nor improved arrangements for servicing and deliveries.
All these changes are being introduced for six months on an ‘experimental’ basis which means the Council is not required to carry out full consultation before beginning work later this year. It will, however, ‘carefully consider input from residents, businesses and other stakeholders’ once the work has been completed.
Full details are set out in the Oxford Street brochure:
The FitzWest Forum has written to West End ward members and Cllr Caplan, Deputy Leader, arguing that full consultation should be carried out now because of the potential impact of these changes on Fitzrovia, as well as Soho, Marylebone and Mayfair.
Reminder:
FITZROVIA WEST GOES TO THE POLLS ON 2ND SEPTEMBER 2021
Your time has come to vote in a referendum on the Neighbourhood Plan on 2nd September 2021. Everyone registered to vote will be able to say whether they want the plan to influence planning decisions and create an improved environment for all those living in, working in and visiting the area. All businesses in the neighbourhood which pay business rates will also get a vote. The Fitzrovia Centre in Foley Street will be the polling station but you can also apply for a postal vote through this link:
https://www.westminster.gov.uk/about-council/democracy/postal-and-proxy-voting
For more information have a look at our website Neighbourhood Plan
Hopefully those objecting to these proposals will mention in there reasons the fact that when this has been in acted in the past, Mortimer Street becomes bottlenecked from great Portland Street all the way to Tottenham Court road. Road traffic is not just as a standstill, but at a standstill with their engines idling belching fumes into the atmosphere. Although there are many shops in the area it is also highly residential and do we genuinely need this level of pollution just to convenience traders and shops in Oxford Street?
Westminster has an overwhelming pollution problem: it should be in acting programs that prioritise people not polluters.
At present traffic along Oxford Street is more or less restricted to electric vehicles. Re-routing them to Mortimer Street therefore would not appear to be a problem – except that they trap the polluting traffic along Mortimer Street in a gridllock which would prevent a normal flow of traffic. This has a major negative impact on two of the very few green spaces we have in Fitzrovia. The playground of all souls school is only one block away from Mortimer Street, as well as the Gardens in the square. It is a local children and residents who will pay the Health cost of these plans.