Chapter 3 – Part four: A central metropolitan block

The plan for minimum redevelopment

360

The broad proposals for land use and internal distributor and access roads are shown in Figure 209. With the exceptions of short lengths at the east end of Oxford Street, the west end of Mortimer Street, and at the east end of Howland Street, no road widenings are necessary to implement the scheme. As far as possible, roads selected to act as district distributors do not sever the embryo environmental areas. In general, however, conditions on these distributors would not be satisfactory until redevelopment had made possible the removal of frontage uses that generate heavy pedestrian traffic—removal, that is to say, either to an upper level or away from the street frontage altogether. Rigorous control of redevelopment would have to be exercised along the whole of the distribution system to ensure that the sites redeveloped were large enough to enable the separation of pedestrians and vehicles to be achieved, and to secure vehicular access to buildings. Special difficulties are presented by Regent Street which needs to be dealt with as urgently in this respect as Oxford Street, but in view of its architectural character, any proposal to erect a structure along the centre would require the most careful consideration.