Grosvenor Estate would pay for a £15m scheme to cut Grosvenor Street's carriageway from 11m to 4.5m, with wider pavements and a cycle path. Consultation comes next.

Grosvenor Street in Mayfair would lose more than half its carriageway under a £15 million plan paid for by Grosvenor Estate. It would shrink from 11 metres to 4.5 metres, with wider pavements, a cycle path, trees and rain gardens.

The plan covers the whole street, from New Bond Street to Grosvenor Square. It is set out in a council report asking for the scheme to be added to Westminster’s capital programme for 2026/27.

The decision was due on Wednesday 11 November, according to the council’s decision record. The outcome had not been published when we checked that afternoon. Residents and businesses have not yet been consulted: that comes once the first designs are done.

The quick answer

  • Where: Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, between New Bond Street and Grosvenor Square.
  • Cost: about £15 million, paid by Grosvenor Estate.
  • Road width: cut from 11m to 4.5m.
  • Pavements: widened from 2.2m to at least 3.1m, and to 5.1m at raised loading bays.
  • Also planned: a cycle path, new trees, rain gardens, better lighting, and zebra crossings instead of traffic lights at Davies Street.
  • Next step: a public consultation once the initial design is finished, then a formal traffic order consultation.

What would change

The report lists these changes along the street:

  • pavements widened from 2.2 metres to a minimum of 3.1 metres
  • raised loading bays, which take the pavement to 5.1 metres where they sit
  • a carriageway cut from 11 metres to 4.5 metres, with better crossing points
  • a new cycle path, linking to existing and planned cycle routes nearby
  • new trees and rain gardens, and possibly a sustainable drainage system to soak up rain
  • better street lighting
Council cross-section of Grosvenor Street as it is now: 18.2 metres wall to wall, with 2.2 metre and 2 metre pavements, parking on both sides and a 7 metre road between themCouncil cross-section of the proposed Grosvenor Street: 3.1 metre pavements on both sides, a 3 metre traffic lane, a 1.5 metre cycle lane, and parking and planting on raised areas

2 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: Westminster City Council

Traffic lights out at Davies Street

The traffic lights at the Davies Street junction would go, replaced by zebra crossings. The report says this is meant to give the junction “a more neighbourhood feel”, and that TfL supports it.

TfL’s modelling predicts about two extra vehicles a minute heading north on Davies Street. The report says that part of the design will be looked at again at the next stage.

The council also checked the plan against the Oxford Street pedestrianisation, about 300 metres to the north. TfL’s modelling found any change in traffic on Grosvenor Street would be “negligible”, the report says. That is because little eastbound traffic uses the stretch of Oxford Street that runs alongside it.

Parking

An early version of the design went to the council’s design review group in March 2025. It was “well received”, but the group thought the cuts to parking went too far, especially to pay-by-phone bays. The report says the design was reworked with the council’s parking team. The current version has more pay-by-phone bays than that first one, it says, though it does not give numbers.

Who pays

Grosvenor Estate would pay through a legal agreement under section 278 of the Highways Act. That is the usual way a landowner or developer pays for changes to a public road.

The council may add a small amount from its neighbourhood share of the Community Infrastructure Levy. Grosvenor plans to apply for that in early 2027. If the application fails, the report says, Grosvenor will pay for all of it. Grosvenor would also cover any extra cost of maintaining the new street.

The £15 million estimate dates from late 2024, updated for inflation and material costs. The council’s term highways contractors, FM Conway and WSP, would design and build it.

What it means for you

  • If you live or work on or near Grosvenor Street: nothing changes yet. The council says a public consultation will run once the initial design is complete, and its outcome will go back to the cabinet member before anything is built.
  • If you drive or park there: the proposed layout has a single traffic lane. The final parking layout is not published. Any change to parking or traffic rules needs a traffic order, which has its own formal consultation.
  • If you cycle: the plan adds a dedicated cycle path along the street.

Sources