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Oxford Street pedestrianisation (via TfL).jpgProposed Oxford Street cycling ban a “disaster for cycling in London,” says Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Gilligan has claimed that banning people on bikes from Oxford Street under proposals unveiled yesterday by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan represents “an unqualified disaster for cycling in London.”
His remarks come after the mayor outlined plans to make the stretch of Europe’s busiest shopping street from Oxford Circus to Orchard Street – which includes the department stores John Lewis and Selfridges, plus Bond Street station – pedestrian-only by the end of next year.
By the end of 2019, it is proposed that the eastern end of Oxford Street, from Tottenham Court Station to Oxford Circus, be similarly pedestrianised. No firm date has been set for the final and shortest stretch, from Oxford Street to Marble Arch, to be restricted to people on foot only.
By removing buses and taxis and, yes, bicycles from Oxford Street – private cars are already banned – Khan promised that “the iconic part of the street west of Oxford Circus could be transformed into a traffic-free pedestrian boulevard.”
He said that the proposals “will make the area substantially cleaner and safer for everyone, creating one of the finest public spaces in the world.”
But writing today in the Guardian Bike Blog, Gilligan, the city’s cycling commissioner under former Mayor Boris Johnson, warns that the lack of suitable parallel routes for safe infrastructure for bike riders means an Oxford Street cycling ban would be ignored by many.
As a result, he predicts that “Oxford Street will become London’s biggest unofficial example of the notorious failure that is ‘shared space’.
“That won’t be good for pedestrians, or for the image of cycling. There will be near-misses or worse, arrests, fines, stories in the Daily Mail.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I do not approve of anyone disobeying the rules,” Gilligan continued. “But it’s what happens when you make proposals for a road that totally ignore one of its main user groups.”
In April, London’s current cycling and walking commissioner, Will Norman, admitted that cyclists might be excluded from Oxford Street under the planned scheme, which yesterday’s announcement confirms.
> Oxford Street pedestrianisation plans could see cyclists excluded
“Whether they go down Oxford Street or alternative routes, that is why we do need to do a consultation and understand what the needs are of local residents and other stakeholders,” he said.
In response, London Cycling Campaign’s Simon Munk said: “What is really clear is that cyclists are doing everything they can to avoid Oxford Street at the moment.
“It’s so horrifically unpleasant. But the desire is there. It’s very clear there has to be a really high-quality east-west route.”
The following month, LCC put forward the concept of what it called ‘London Boulevard’ – a protected cycle route running almost 2 miles from Old Street to Tottenham Court Road which despite a lack of separated infrastructure is already one of the most-used ways to get across the city for those on bikes.
> London Boulevard: Could 1.9 mile "scar across London" become a capital cycling icon?
While Transport for London (TfL) currently has no plans for such a route, demand clearly exists, and a westward extension along Oxford Street would appear, to many, to be logical move
In the plans revealed yesterday for Oxford Street, TfL said it was “developing proposals” to install a “high-quality east-west cycle route to the north of Oxford Street.”
While roads such as Wigmore Street and New Cavendish Street already see high levels of cycling, Gilligan insists that “the promise is impossible to deliver.”
He says there are no suitable roads east of Oxford Circus for such a route, while the ones to the west are controlled by Westminster Council, “meaning the chances of anything serious being done for cyclists on them are about nil.”
He insists that there would be ample room on Oxford Street to accommodate cyclists and to provide “an easy alternative to the certainty of conflict baked into the current plans.”
That, he says, is to “allow bikes, but design out the conflict by installing a clearly-defined and separated cycle track that lets both pedestrians and cyclists know where they’re supposed to be.
“You could still roughly treble the space given to pedestrians, which should be more than enough.
“Instead, Britain’s one-time cycling flagship is telling the rest of the country, wrongly, that cyclists and pedestrians can’t co-exist in an 80ft-wide street. It’s a troubling message to send,” he added.
TfL’s consultation on the Oxford Street proposals is open until 17 December 2017 and can be found here.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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25 comments
If all traffic is removed then a deserted Oxford St is going to be a very tempting cycling route in the morning rush hour - most of the shops don't open much before 10:00 so there won't be many pedestrians around either, particularly in the peak commuting time between 08:00 and 09:00.
Maybe they could allow cycling at that time slot?? You'd have to find another route in the evening but would solve some of the problem.
Will happen anyway unless they are prepared to police it....
Sky cycle, have you heard yoursef.thats the biggest load of bollocks ever. It's inconvenient, difficult for some to get upthe Iinclines, massively expensive and wouldn't get planning permission.
It still avoids the fact that you cant ban access on the highway, it's clearly unlawful.
Either allow people to cycle at normal speeds through the area willy nily or pu in place infra for cycles with crossing places for peds.
https://www.strava.com/segments/6751996
Better get in there at 3am soon and smash it and you can keep it forever.
You haven't been out in London at that time recently!! I used to do a special for friends visiting where I'd take them on a tour of London once the pubs had shut, you could easily do all the sites in an hour and a half. Now you spend all the time in traffic jams....
They could always create an alternative traffic free route for cyclists, but they probably won’t.
Cyclists are now seen as pedestrian murderers, hooligans and a menace.
How about taking a leaf out of Bangkok's book? An Oxford Street Skycycle route would solve the problem of cyclist/pedestrian conflict. Why not run it all the way from Stratford* to Shepherd's Bush? Add high level cycle parking and shop access down Oxford Street. (I'm aware that the Bangkok overhead cycle routes are not ideal - there are too many steps - but cycling along them is inspiring.)
*Cycling over the Bow flyover, today, is fun. Tomorrow, we could have a Skycycle flyover over the existing flyover! Might need a few side panels to cut out side winds. Maybe a cycle roundabout on the Green bridge?
You may not agree with everything he says, but the article by Gilligan is important and worth reading.
There is NOT a viable east-west alternative. The alternative east-west routes are inconveneinet in various ways, but most importantly will have the displaced buses and taxis using them. The local residents are up in arms precisely because of the displacement of delivery vehicles, buses and taxis on to these roads, and quite rightly.
Even if there is going to be a sensible approach by TfL, the roads are owned by notoriously anti-cycling Westminster Council
So while Oxford Street is unpleasant to cycle on, there is not going to be anything remotely sensible to replace it.
Cyclists shafted again.
Oxford St is a really horrible place to cycle, and won't get any better when it's pedestrianised, which I fully support.
There is plenty of space to make wide, dedicated cycle routes north of Oxford Street, where there is very little foot traffic, moving motor traffic further north towards the ring road, with perhaps north-south electric shuttle buses from Euston Rd to Piccadilly and back.
If they provide the cycling space very, very few people would choose to cycle on even a pedestrianised Oxford Street itself, imo, so a ban would be pointless.
The road is 80 feet wide. Plenty of room for two segregated lanes.
There is no vision from any London authority - be it mayor , TfL or councils.
Sadiq will allow himself to be psuhed around by Westminster and the local businesses, who are the opposite end of the spectrun from progressive cities elsewhere.
Why do you think he spent nine months of his tenure to employ Will Norman?
(he who thinks the 'Quiet Ways' (inconveniently infested by rat-running motors) are "fine as they are thanks very much").
Another scheme ready to be aborted. To applause from the frenzied victim-blaming mob.
I couldn't agree more. We need safe and segegated routes parallel to Oxford Street. Most of us avoid terrible Oxford Steet already.
Of course shutting Oxford Street will make the parallel roads much busier. This isn't something that can sort itself out - TFL must sort out cycling routes at the same time as diverting the buses and taxis.
Unless very rich residents in Westminster who can be bothered to challenge that terrible council legally then there will be no parallel cycle routes.
The only thing we can do is answer the consultation and say "no" you disagree with the proposals as access needs to be allowed for delivery vehicles and cycling provision needs to be included.
It would be against the rules to ban access under the public spaces protection order regulations, specifically S64:(6)A
Thou shalt not restrict public right of way over a highway that is the only or principal means of access to premises used for business during times that they are normally open.
Those against it should utilise the existing law and tell him and his cronies to fuck off!
Is it proposed to use a PSPO? It wouldn't be a correct use of the powers from what I understand of them.
But there are other powers to create pedestrianised areas, aren't there? And there is still access to business premises in those - by foot!
This is an insane plan, and somewhat surprising, considering Sadiq Khan's otherwise relatively cycle-friendly stance.
Surely it would be better to eliminate diesel vehicles from this thoroughfare and add some barriers along the pavements to discourage the mindless tourists and smartphone zombies from wandering into the road without looking for oncoming traffic.
Shome mishtake shurely?
Perhaps you fell for the Sadik-likes-cyclists election campaign persona.
There is still very little for cyclists in 2017. He has been sitting on his hands for a year and a half ignoring every useful bit of advice given by those who've been campaigning for several years.
Andrew Gilligan is the one who should have had the Commissioner's job (or at least for an an interim period) but....Mr Khan had to make a point didn't he...!
Campaigners were told to keep quiet and wait for the big announcements....and..lo and behold..we got..... N i k e ! ! ! (the man from) a highly paid chap who told us 'how good cycling is...' and....
errr...that's it!
But we did get....cancellations of routes that had passed consultation - were easy to put in (and shovel ready) which would have contributed to getting a lot more people cycling and easing the push for a long awaited network of cycling routes.
Gilligan and Boardman meanwhile (two contenders for commissioner) are working for other mayors now. Where perhaps (I can't say for sure) the bikelash may not be at the same rabid and hysterical pitch it has reached in London.
Segregated cycle tracks would be ideal the length of Oxford Street - there are many people who would want to (and do currently) cycle it.
Astonishingly, no one has even mentioned cyclists who want to get to the shops.
Westminster council's malign influence is truly sickening. The borough is a disgusting place to venture even for someone who's been cycling in London since 1987.
Sadiq's b/s about taking time to get get TfL into shape has tried the patience of campaigners to the limit.
No. There's not much too be said for Sadiq and cycling.
Too many motorists too placate.
I agree with the rest of your post but no to cycle lanes on oxford street, that'd ruin cycling as much as pedestrianisation because the only thing stopping people from walking all over the road right now is buses and taxis, remove that threat and you'd have cyclist-pedestrian accidents regularly. Masses of people would walk all over the cycle lanes, there are times already (around 5pm) when they walk all over the road, some of them don't notice cyclists and some are more anti-cyclist and just seem to show distain, you see the anti-social ****ers look, they see you and they still walk straight in front of you (you're just a cyclist). Now with the anti-social group and the absent minded group you'd have to cycle at walking pace on any cycle lane, hemmed in with no-where to go when someone walks out in front of you.
Khan is not pro-cycling, he is anything but
I usually just side saddle, right foot on left pedal when getting the bike through pedestrian bits. It's faster than walking but you can quickly get both feet down and walk if it gets heavy enough not to be safe anymore.
This said last time I did it I got shouted at by a wino telling me what a bad person I was.
As much as i want people on bikes to be able to go anywhere, If this street becomes fully pedestrianised, you can't have the small %age of people on bikes (the small minority who go through lights and don't follow the rule of the road) going through this area.
Not sure if serious...
If this plan is put in place, surely there won't BE any 'lights' to go through OR 'road' to follow rules for?
I was being very serious. I merely meant that there are a small %age of people on bikes who would happily ride through a busy pedestrianised area at relatively fast speeds. Whilst they may believe they have the skills to negotiate comfortably through a busy crowd at speeds, its not a nice experience to the pedestrians who may not be expecting a close pass in a pedestrianized zone.
Cyclists are people, not some homogenous group - please don't perpetuate the myth that "cyclists" as a gourp exist as some distinct entity to everyone else.
I never suggested that they were a homogenous group. I was even careful to differentiate the types of cyclist i meant.
It becomes a lot harder to convey a point if you have to use the phrase "people on bikes" instead of cyclists every bloody time!
fixed it for you
I think by pointing out that it is a small % of cyclists who are selfish he is in fact arguing that cyclists are NOT some homogenous group.
How rephrasing the sentence to read, "the small % of selfish people who cycle" makes any difference, since cyclists are people who cycle.