Oxford Street

Have your say on the transformation of Oxford Street Responses to issues raised July 2018 [Type text] This report lists every issue raised during the consultation, together with our response. In order to assist readers of this report to identify the issue(s) that they are most interested in, we have grouped the issues raised into themes, and have further grouped those themes into six broad categories. The table of contents below lists the categories and the themes which make up each of them. The issues within each theme have been ordered according to the frequency they were raised by respondents, from the most to the least frequently raised. Contents Impacts of the proposals ......................................................................................... 3 Accessibility ....................................................................................................................... 3 Air quality .......................................................................................................................... 8 Other impacts of the scheme ........................................................................................... 11 Businesses and the local economy .................................................................................. 16 Connectivity ..................................................................................................................... 21 Noise ............................................................................................................................... 22 Personal safety & security ............................................................................................... 25 Road safety ..................................................................................................................... 25 Tourism ........................................................................................................................... 28 Traffic congestion ............................................................................................................ 28 Urban wildlife ................................................................................................................... 35 Walking & pedestrian experience .................................................................................... 35 Traffic management changes ................................................................................ 39 Traffic management and restrictions ................................................................................ 39 Wigmore Street ............................................................................................................... 74 Transport issues .................................................................................................... 80 Buses .............................................................................................................................. 80 Cycling ............................................................................................................................ 85 Motorcycles ..................................................................................................................... 91 Public transport ............................................................................................................... 91 Taxis & Private Hire ......................................................................................................... 92 Underground ................................................................................................................... 96 Walking and pedestrian experience ................................................................................. 98 Design issues ......................................................................................................... 99 Design ............................................................................................................................. 99 1 Emergency access ........................................................................................................ 113 Maintenance .................................................................................................................. 115 Parking .......................................................................................................................... 115 Retail offer ..................................................................................................................... 116 In-principle views ................................................................................................. 119 Costs and funding ......................................................................................................... 119 Modes permitted ............................................................................................................ 120 Scope of proposals ........................................................................................................ 126 Principles of the scheme ............................................................................................... 133 Other issues ......................................................................................................... 134 Comments about the consultation ................................................................................. 134 General comments ........................................................................................................ 140 Out of scope .................................................................................................................. 150 2 Impacts of the proposals Theme Issues raised Our response Concern regarding loss of Our proposals would have involved making a number of changes to the access and connectivity by bus bus network in the local area. While some bus routes would no longer (journey time, cost, interchange travel east-west through the Oxford Street district, two routes would have convenience etc.) continued to serve this corridor using Wigmore Street and Henrietta Concern regarding insufficient Place. We were reviewing bus stopping arrangements to make provision of public transport interchange as convenient as possible, bringing buses closer in to the alternatives following the traffic free section of Oxford Street, while the new Bus Hopper fare would pedestrianisation have ensured passengers were charged correctly for their journey. Concern about access for older Our proposals would have delivered a number of benefits to disabled and people and those less able to encumbered people, including a significant reduction in pedestrian walk longer distances or take crowding, new controlled pedestrian crossings in the wider area, the underground improved way-finding and seating and the creation of a new high quality Accessibility Concern about access for urban realm. We were also investigating the feasibility of providing an disabled people to Oxford Street additional mobility service to help mitigate the impact of this change. Concern regarding access for encumbered people (e.g. shopping, push chairs, luggage) Under our proposals, taxis would have been prohibited from travelling along Oxford Street for part or all of the day. Taxi ranks would have been provided as close as possible to Oxford Street in visible locations Concern regarding loss of and we were working closely with the taxi trade to ensure there would be access by taxi sufficient ranking space. Under our proposals, cyclists would have been prohibited from travelling Concern about access for on Oxford Street and we would have delivered high quality alternative disabled cyclists routes in the local area and cycle parking facilities close to Oxford Street. 3 Theme Issues raised Our response We did not propose to introduce designated drop-off locations for disabled access. Whilst some people may require dropping off near Oxford Street, the nearby loading bays (which would have been accessible) and yellow Suggest drop-off spaces for lines would have been suitable for this purpose. Additional disabled disabled access parking bays had been found within the vicinity Concern for loss of access to Under our proposals, access to nearby car parks would have been the car parks near Oxford Street retained both during and after any construction works. (e.g. Phoenix building, Q-Park) Under our proposals, cars would have been prohibited from Oxford Street at all times. Some north-south roads would have remained open to general traffic and we intended that parking and loading bays would be located so as to be as convenient as possible. We were also working to ensure that resident and disabled parking is protected. Cars are currently Concern about loss of access excluded from Oxford St between 7am and 7pm, and there would have for car users (general) been no loss of access to the surrounding areas. Private hire vehicles are not currently permitted to travel along Oxford Street between 7am and 7pm. Under our proposals, private hire vehicles (PHVs) would have been prohibited from travelling along Oxford Street at Concern regarding loss of all times. PHVs would instead have been permitted to drop off at nearby access by private hire vehicles locations to Oxford Street. As part of the feasibility work into an additional mobility service, we were investigating how many vehicles would be required and what level of Concern regarding the quality service frequency could be provided. Our aspiration was for a high and frequency of the proposed quality service which

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