Toxic air is the big Oxford Street issue
THE proposed pedestrianisation of Oxford Street is a particularly illthought-out scheme that will not only leave less able shoppers without transport but also shift the air and noise pollution into residential side streets and adjacent areas.
These narrow streets will become jammed with noisy, fume-belching black cabs and buses all day and with even noisier, mostly diesel vehicles, all night.
As the Mayor of London’s emissions reduction plans do not make it mandatory for these vehicles to run quietly and cleanly, air pollution in these streets — just below or at World Health Organisation guideline levels for damaging health — will only get worse.
Transport for London and the Mayor have the wrong objectives — they should be working to reduce the noise and air pollution in the residential side streets, not making the lives of thousands of Londoners worse.