Oxford Circus - Diagonal Crossing

Diagonal Crossing

In 2009, Westminster City Council commenced a £4m pedestrianisation scheme for the area, allowing shoppers to cross the intersection diagonally as well as the traditional 'straight ahead', turning it into a "pedestrian scramble", much like Tokyo's Shibuya crossing. Work started in Summer 2009, and the crossing opened on November 2nd of the same year, by which time the cost had risen to £5 million. Although London Mayor Boris Johnson declared it, "a triumph for British engineering, Japanese innovation and good old common sense," it was noted that a similar crossing in Balham, South London had previously opened in 2005 at a cost of only £98,000.