#Miko说#-Visit London第九期-Oxford Street

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster（威斯敏斯特市） in the West End of London, running from Marble Arch（大理石拱门，伦敦著名地标） to Tottenham Court Road（托特纳姆法院路） via（通过，经由） Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and had approximately（大约，近似得）300 shops. It is designated（指定）as part of the A40, a major road between London and Fishguard（菲什加德）, though it is not signed as such, and traffic is regularly restricted（限制，限定）to buses and taxis. It was known as Tyburn Road（泰伯恩路）through the Middle Ages and was once notorious （名声狼藉的，臭名昭著的）as a street where prisoners from Newgate Prison（新门监狱）would be transported towards a public hanging（悬挂于众）. It became known as Oxford Road and then Oxford Street in the 18th century, and began to change character from a residential street（住宅街） to commercial and retail（商业和零售）purposes by the late 19th century, also attracting street traders（商贩）, confident tricksters and prostitution（行骗和卖淫）.The first department stores（百货商场） in Britain opened on Oxford Street in the early 20th century, including Selfridges, John Lewis and HMV. Unlike nearby shopping streets such as Bond Street, it has retained（保留） an element（元素，要素，成分） of downmarket（面向低收入消费者的）street trading alongside more prestigious（有名望的，享有声望的）retail stores（零售商店）. The street suffered heavy bombing（爆炸）during World War II（第二次世界大战）, and several longstanding（长期存在的） stores including John Lewis were completely destroyed and rebuilt from scratch（擦伤，抓伤）. Despite（尽管）competition from other shopping centers such as Westfield Stratford City（西田斯特拉特福德城） and the Brent Cross shopping centres（布伦特十字购物中心）Oxford Street remains in high demand as a retail location, with several chains（连锁）hosting their flagship stores（旗舰店） on the street, and has a number of listed buildings（作为文物保护的登记在册的建筑）. The annual switching（开关）on of Christmas lights by a celebrity（名声）has been a popular event since 1959. However, the combination（结合）of a very popular retail area（零售区）and a main thoroughfare（大道，道路）for London buses and taxis has caused significant（重大的）problems with traffic congestion（交通阻塞）, safety and pollution. Various traffic management schemes（计划，体制）have been proposed（建议，打算）by Transport for London, including a ban（禁令）private vehicles during daytime hours on weekdays and Saturdays, and improved pedestrian crossings（人行道）。