Sir – The views expressed by Peter Thompson and Graham Smith concerning the proposal to make the ring-road between Headington and Cutteslowe into a “boulevard” seem astonishingly arrogant regarding local communities.

Has Sandhills been guaranteed “long-term social failure” because it is segregated by the A40? What is the evidence for claiming that the development west of Barton can only be a “genuinely successful vibrant and attractive new community” if it is integrated with Headington and Northway? Both those communities have voiced strong opposition to turning the bypass turned into a “boulevard”; why assume that a new community will be in favour?

Graham Smith offers no evidence for his claim that the majority of the traffic using the A40 is local. The amount that currently flows along this stretch of the ring-road more or less 24-hours-a-day suggests otherwise. If the status of the road is downgraded to a city thoroughfare, a new ring-road beyond Sandhills and North Oxford will soon have to be built.

Putting people first was one of Thompson and Smith’s sounder ideas: when a community asks to live beside an unpleasant, pollution-filled “boulevard” like Western Avenue, then will be the time to think about creating one.

Clive Hurst, Headington