On a grey, wet Monday morning, clutching umbrellas and hunched under their hoods, pedestrians stepped gingerly into London's Oxford Street, like fawns testing a newly frozen river.
Could it really be true, they wondered? Was it possible that a shopper hunting for some trainers at Skechers no longer had to wait for the traffic lights to change? Would the busy professional be able to cross from Moss Bros to Calzedonia with impunity, free from the fear of being mown down by an errant 390 bus?
Yes, indeed. Today marked the first day of a new era, as arguably the world's most famous shopping street finally rid itself of motor traffic, after decades of back and forth. As of 8pm on Sunday, it was bye-bye to the buses, ta-ra to the taxis, even ciao to the cyclists, who were forced to dismount and wheel their machines through the affected area (although, as we will learn, theory and practise were miles apart when it came to the bikes).
