Pedestrian Priority Streets Programme King William Street

Following progress made at the 10 King William Street development, the City of London Corporation is returning to complete the improvements to King William Street, between Abchurch Lane and Nicholas Lane, on Wednesday 1 July 2026, lasting approximately seven months.

These improvements form part of the Pedestrian Priority Streets Programme to make walking safer, easier, and more accessible in the Square Mile, with nicer places for people to spend time in. On King William Street, these include:

• More space for people with wider pavements on both sides of the street and a narrower carriageway that’s quicker and easier to cross
• New seating and wider accessibility improvements
• New street trees; 11 have already been planted, with more expected
• Raised junctions at side streets to provide a level surface, slow turning vehicles and reinforce priority for people walking and wheeling
• Raised sections of carriageway to slow vehicles and make the street easier to cross at Lombard Street and St Swithin’s Lane
• An improved highways drainage system
• New purpose-built inset and timed loading bays
• A better crossing on the approach to Monument, providing full dropped kerbs to improve accessibility

At the bottom of this webpage you can find the design for the upcoming works alongside the latest construction phasing plan.

Future junction and road closures

Short, full closures of side roads will be required when working across junctions. While these durations are currently estimates, we intend to reopen the junctions as quickly as possible. The current estimated closures are:

• Nicholas Lane (south): 5 August - 2 September 2026
• Abchurch Lane (south): 26 September - 24 November 2026
• Nicholas Lane (north): 30 November - 18 December 2026

In addition, to complete final road resurfacing work, King William Street and its immediate side junctions are scheduled to temporarily close to all traffic from 7pm Friday 22 January - 5am Monday 25 January 2027, with back-up dates of Friday 29 January - Monday 1 February 2027.

Further details will be provided on this webpage as they are available to help you plan ahead.

Two-way cycling allowed temporarily but motor vehicle diversions remain

There are no changes to the current traffic management provisions on site so traffic will only be permitted to travel northbound on King William Street to enable a safe working area for the City Corporation's contractors.

Whilst the southbound contraflow cycle lane will remain in place, it will need to be removed from mid-October 2026 onwards when the works move from one side of the road to the other, as there will not be enough remaining carriageway space to accommodate it. From this point until the scheme is complete, there will be a southbound cycle diversion in place. Further details will be published here once available.

Buses will remain on diversion, so remember to check before you travel, as diversions may change.

Who to contact

If you have an enquiry regarding the Pedestrian Priority Programme at King William Street, please contact the Pedestrian Priority team.