Welcome and introductions: Charles Begley Executive Director Westminster Property Association

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2 Welcome and introductions: Charles Begley Executive Director Westminster Property Association

3 Oxford Street Transformation: Sam Monck Head of Oxford Street Transformation at Transport for London and Westminster City Council the independent integrated agency

4 4 Oxford Street Transformation WPA/NWEC seminar 30 /11/17

5 5 Contents 1. Overview of proposals and the approach taken 2. The first consultation and key concerns 3. Work done to date 4. Oxford St West proposals in more detail 5. Key impacts: Traffic reassignment Air Quality Buses and accessibility 6. The Management Plan, Activation and Public Art 7. Overnight access issues to consider (servicing, space for walking, design of space and anti social behaviour) 8. Next steps and key issues 9. Summary

6 6 Overview of Current Proposals - Phasing Transformation stage one will remove traffic and introduce a temporary scheme, stage two requires support from government funding The proposals set out above and within this briefing are subject to further public consultation with consideration of issues raised given before determining final respective preferred designs.

7 7 Approach taken Take a whole district approach Address known issues around safety, crowding, poor air quality etc. Protect and enhance quality of life for residents, as well as a thriving business district Get ready for the pedestrian growth that comes from the Elizabeth Line Dramatically improve the quality of the space Enhance the safety of a thriving and busy West End Use a partnership approach to develop and deliver STAGE WEST EAST DATE 1 Overall Vision and Outline Proposals Overall Vision Apr Jun 17 2 Detailed Proposals Outline Proposals Nov 17 Dec Detailed Proposals May Jul 18

8 8 The first consultation... April-June 2017: Consultation on outline vision for whole Oxford Street District Overall response was supportive, but local results within WCC expressed strong concerns

9 9...and the key issues raised Concerns (not ranked) Displacement of Traffic to local roads Air Quality and noise impacts Cycle Routes What we are doing... Detailed traffic modelling and mitigation measures to reduce impact of proposals. Detailed air quality modelling and monitoring measures. Development of detailed cycling strategy and proposals to be delivered as part of Oxford Street East consultation. Accessibility Servicing and freight Use of open spaces and activity Buses routes, stops and stands Road Safety Accessibility consultant appointed to advise on design and develop alternative mobility options. Iterative EqIA undertaken Freight Management and Servicing plan to form key part of proposals. Detailed public realm proposals and Experiential strategy currently in development. Detailed plan for bus changes, stops and stands developed in conjunction with both councils for consultation All designs to be fully safety audited and on-going monitoring of safety indicators.

10 10 Work Done to Date Highway Design Public Realm Design Environmental Range of options have been considered. Taking into account consultation and stakeholder feedback in development of final proposals for consultation. Freight and Kerbside Freight and kerbside management plans developed to ensure servicing and taxis are served sufficiently in new arrangements Walking and Cycling Looking at proposals to improve walking and cycling across the district, improving safety and accessibility. A Healthy Streets approach is being used. Public realm designs and strategy for the whole district being developed. Transition designs for OSW are in the consultation Accessibility Consultant appointed to advise on accessibility issues. Impacts of OSW are relatively modest, but a mobility service is still being looked at for all of OS lengths. No decisions taken. Management, Maintenance, Activation & Funding This workstream is developing a plan around ongoing service requirements addressing issues around larger number of visitors and any impacts of the OS District project. Activation and public arts is a key element Consultant appointed to assess Air and Noise Quality changes associated with project & advise on potential environmental improvements. Bus Routings and Stands 40% reduction in buses on OSW from June (30% now done) Two routes to move to alternate route, with others curtailed or removed. Options for some turnarounds still under discussion Security and CT Advice taken from relevant authorities to ensure security is fully addressed. Has impacts on options for access

11 11 Oxford Street West proposals - overview All traffic removed from large sections of Oxford Street, for 24 hours a day but still open question about out of hours access. Two bus routes (139 & 390) rerouted onto Henrietta Place and Wigmore Street. Cycles removed from Oxford St. As part of the separate Oxford Street East proposals, high quality alternative routes would look to be delivered. Pedestrian improvements across whole district. Four key north-south traffic movements retained.

12 Traffic impacts: PM Peak OSW Future Base compared to with OSW 12 Net flow change, all directions Some streets other than OSW see reduced traffic, others see a rise. Because of simpler junctions on OSW, delays across the area are relatively low impact (more information on both these items is on the website)

13 13 Air Quality Impacts: changes due to OSW Scheme NO2 Level of Change Large beneficial change 7 Medium beneficial change 6 Low/very low beneficial change Imperceptible change 8 Low/very low adverse change Medium adverse change 2 Large adverse change 0 No. of sites 28 27

14 14 Noise impacts: changes with OSW scheme, 2019 Noise level of change Large beneficial 7 Medium beneficial 3 Small beneficial 12 Imperceptible/none 42 Small adverse 13 Medium adverse 0 Large adverse 0 No. of sites Significance of change in road traffic noise levels at selected receptors with Oxford Street West Scheme

15 15 Air Quality impacts: summary All sites are better in 2019 than in 2016, largely thanks to ULEZ None are improved enough on NO 2 OSW project then makes some sites even better, and some sites slightly worse, but all sites are still better than 2016 More sites are improved than adversely impacted (but numbers of sites alone is only a partial picture) Predicted PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations are lower than baseline situation and remain well below the relevant limit values at all sites. Monitoring is now in place in addition to the modelling 100 sites for diffusion tubes 15

16 16 OSW: Bus proposals (local impacts) Route Weekday bph 7.5 bph 7.5 bph 5 bph 2 bph bph 10 bph 10 bph 6 bph 2 bph

17 17 OSW: Bus proposals (routes)

18 18 OSW: Accessibility improvements to the District 18

19 19 OSW impacts: Accessibility Removing buses from Oxford Street reduces accessibility to the area bus stops are further away from key destinations. We are therefore investigating options for an additional (environmentally friendly) service that could improve accessibility for people with reduced mobility. Any mobility service would need to work with HVM measures and not conflict with the very high number pedestrians in the area Mobility service is not funded within TfL s business plan and would represent long term operational cost. Potential sponsorship and revenue opportunities will be explored as part of ongoing investigation

20 20 A District Management Plan In addition to the physical design of the District, and the activation of space, work is ongoing developing a future District Management Plan, identifying the pressures and issues that arise in such an intensively used area, and the level of service that will be required. This includes maintenance, cleansing and waste management, enforcement, access management, management against anti-social behaviour and a range of services operated by WCC 20

21 21 Activation Strategy and Public Art curation As retail changes, high quality public realm is needed to encourage people into the district Activation of space will provide a potential revenue income to sustain or invest further into Oxford Street, but will carry costs also We will commission a creative agency to understand look at best practice elsewhere, trends and what London can offer The strategy will work closely with the public realm, public art and management proposals to recommend interventions for transition, and is expected to evolve over time Images clockwise from top left: Black Maria temporary theatre by GRUPPE (Kings X), Temple of Agate by Morag Myerscough (South Bank), The Shed temporary theatre by Hayworth Tompkins (South Bank), Teatro del Mondo travelling theatre by Aldo Rossi (Venice), London Festival of Architecture (Trafalgar Sq), Serpentine Pavilion by Rem Koolhaas

22 22 Funding the ongoing management plan The future District Management and Activation will need a new level of funding to retain the world class standard of the place we are creating. This will need to be funded from a variety of sources including: WCC Private sector Income - eg limited street trading and advertising Future costs, potential new income streams, required powers and ways of working are being identified and will require an open conversation with stakeholders. 22

23 23 Overnight access key issues If there is access then who, how, where and when? Emergency service access retained Limited maintenance access can be retained Freight access what is needed and desirable? Taxi access? Buses (not desirable for passengers or street clutter to shift bus routes) Hostile Vehicle Mitigation limitations and management of access Impact on the design of space and how it is used Concerns around Anti Social Behaviour Displaced traffic Impacts on Management and Activation Plan Cars & PHVs Freight Taxis

24 24 Hostile Vehicle Mitigation We are working closely with national agencies to build HVM measures into the designs. We are investigating options to provide the best possible level of security on Oxford Street, while ensuring pedestrians can move comfortably through the area. Designs will aim to be attractive and positive for the public realm at this location whilst meeting HVM specifications, The installation of HVM may affect the level of any alternative mobility service that could be provided Any access requires active management Examples only: Kings Cross (above) and the Supreme Court (below) use a mixture of place-specific seating and planter elements and bollards

25 25 Freight access Lots of background work, and ongoing engagement Little legal loading on OSW and few freight movements along OS. In total there are 425 freight vehicles per weekday of these only 135 were observed servicing Of these 63 occurred during the day and 71 at night. If service loops were provided this would equate to approximately 5 vehicles per hour with a peak of 13 between 11pm midnight Very few shops being serviced via Oxford Street now Recent counts show there are 2070 servicing movements per day on the side streets north and south of OS and along OS. 93% of these movements currently occur on the side streets. We can get loading facilities within 50m of almost all OSW properties Time period Average weekday 25 Saturda y Sunday 00:00-07:00 (veh/hr) :00-10:00 (veh/hr) :00-16:00 (veh/hr) :00-19:00 (veh/hr) :00-00:00 (veh/hr) hour total (veh)

26 26 Public realm: space for pedestrians Saturday pedestrian flows exceeded 1,000 people per hour from 0800 until midnight. This is all before the predicted uplift from the Elizabeth Line Impacts on decisions around timing of any access Weekday flows at all sites exceeded 1,000 people per hour between 07:00 and midnight. Activity is also at significant levels late into the evening and only dips below 2,000 pedestrians per hour after around23: Surveys: May/June 2015

27 27 What does Oxford St feel like? Pedestrian Comfort Levels The PCL s are based on the pedestrian peak hour (17: ) for a Saturday For a typical High Street / tourist attraction the following PCLs are recommended: Acceptable = B At Risk = B - Comfortable = B+ Unacceptable /Uncomfortable = C+ Minimal space gain for pedestrians Saturday 2021 Maximum space gain for pedestrians Saturday 2021

28 28 Anti Social Behaviour A challenge around the value of any natural surveillance benefit of permitted traffic We have found no quantified studies to date on this yet Feedback to date from community safety and police colleagues suggests there is limited value from passing traffic, with most value from active pedestrian presence We recognise that night time management of space is part of the management plan that we are putting together now. Design is taking into account potential for ASB and minimising management need. Pedestrian flows are strong until c11pm to Midnight already and Bond St remains an attractor until c 1am (and later with night tube) Evening bus passengers now on alternate routes and stops will also need to be kept under review So again, feeds into decisions about what access, and when 28

29 29 Design of space Painted Carriageway Temporary Planters and Lighting Posts Catenary lighting Existing Selfridges Section Looking East Maintaining end to end access overnight would prevent the radical re-design of new spaces Limited access is probably possible, but designs will require compromise

30 30 OSW Public Realm Transition Scheme View from John Lewis Catenary lighting Existing

31 31 OSW Transition Scheme side streets and district Old Cavendish St Wigmore St

32 32 Next steps and key issues The consultation: The current consultation has a huge array of information As well as the overall decisions on the project, many decisions remain to be made eg access We want everyone to feed in their views these will then feed into decisions Funding: Discussions are ongoing about funding the transformation (phase 2) Need to finalise costs and sources of funding for enhanced model of Management and Activation

33 33 Summary A fantastic opportunity with very strong partnership development an alignment of the Mayor, Westminster City Council, TfL and LB Camden working together with NWEC and the private sector The potential is to transform public spaces on Oxford St, but this will involve compromise between issues This brings substantial investment across the wider area (25 new crossings) Traffic impacts across the wider area are mixed some benefits and some adverse impacts, but the network still operates well Air Quality impacts from ULEZ mean all sites improve from now, and OSW makes many sites even better Necessary access on OSW can be maintained, but part time end-to-end access would preclude major urban realm benefits As with all projects, it is contested and we need broad input to the consultation 33

34 34 Sam Monck Head of Oxford Street Tel:

35 Panel discussion: Damian Wild, Editor, EG (Chair) Jace Tyrrell, Chief Executive, New West End Company Cllr Robert Davis MBE DL, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Business, Culture & Heritage, Westminster City Council Val Shawcross CBE, Deputy Mayor for Transport, GLA Craig McWilliam, Vice-Chair, WPA & West End Partnership; Chief Executive, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland the independent integrated agency

36 Thanks and conclusion of the seminar: Damian Wild Editor, EG the independent integrated agency

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