Oxford Circus, London

Oxford Circus at dusk
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oxford_Circus_at_Dusk.jpg
Author: Marc Lacoste


Oxford Circus, despite its name, is not a roundabout, but an intersection in the City of Westminster, in London. It is where Oxford Street intersects with Regent Street, as is one of the most busy pedestrian crossings in the city.

Judging from the appearance of the buildings around it, which were designed by famous 19th century architect John Nash, Oxford Circus was probably a roundabout that was later turned into a cross road.

In 2009, the Westminster City Council spent £5 million to turn it into a diagonal intersection, similar to that of Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing. What amazed many was the amount spent when a similar crossing cost only £98,000 in Balham, South London. While the idea was to improve pedestrianisation traffic, it escaped the city planners to move the traffic underground. I personally fail to see what's so special about the new diagonal intersection to warrant spending £5 million.

Location map of Oxford Circus

Click here to view the Google Map to Oxford Circus.

Oxford Circus diagonal crossing, Nov 2009
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oxford_Circus,_November_2009.jpg
Author: Mike Roberts

List of Streets in London

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.