Sadiq Khan says decision to not go ahead with the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street is a betrayal of millions of Londoner's

via taxi-point https://ift.tt/2y02dCJ

City Hall and Westminster Council are at loggerheads over the proposals to pedestrianise London’s world famous Oxford Street.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that Westminster’s decision to object the plans to go ahead with the pedestrianisation is a “betrayal of millions of Londoners”. Both parties had been working closely on the project, which Khan had seen as one of his flagship proposals, for the last two years, but Westminster council decided against it this summer on the grounds that residents objected the plans. Following the refusal to go ahead with the project, Khan asked Westminster to come up with an alternative plan for the area. The mayor’s deadline for them to submit those plans is soon approaching and Westminster City Council have confirmed it will not meet that deadline. According to a report in CityAM, Khan believes making Oxford Street a pedestrian only zone would make it a safer, healthier and better environment for londoner’s and it’s millions of visitors. The problem with making it a car-free street is the amount of congestion it could cause within the surrounding areas. It would also make it very difficult, and in some cases impossible, for those with certain disabilities to gain access close enough to the location. Anyone who would want or need to take a taxi to London’s main shopping district would be left having to complete to final part of the journey by themselves. Mayor Khan believes that keeping Oxford street the way it currently is isn’t an option if they want to tackle “air pollution” and “serious overcrowding”. For now, both parties are locked in a tense standoff. Conservative-led council Vs the Labour-led City Hall.

September 29, 2018 at 08:08AM https://ift.tt/2ufVjKI Michael Murphy THESE POSTS ARE NOT OUR ENDORSEMENT