Sir – It always seems to be Oxford’s inalterable misfortune that it only has seven main roads into the centre from the ring-road.

Looking at a map, you come to the somewhat unexpected conclusion that there are two each from the south and north, one each from the north-east, south-east, and west.

Moreover, Magdalen Bridge is an insurmountable bottleneck for one southern and all eastern routes (including two already feasible extra eastern ones), and the western road tends to be very congested; sometimes the western and one southern road are flooded.

But a quick glance at an aerial view on your computer shows that there is a good way of providing a new route, and a useful one, and shorter than the others.

It could leave the ring road near Hinksey Heights Golf Course, it could be raised up on a period-style causeway above possible flooding, cross the railway line and the river preferably with just one attractive world-class bridge, and join Oxpens Road near the Ice Rink.

Here (as has often been suggested) there could be a new railway station and coach station complex, complete with car parking, to replace the old ones, leaving two sites which could be partly made green in recompense (Gloucester Green, and Great Western Green?).

This new road, together with the re-sited railway station, would be an excellent way of bringing eager shoppers from far and wide to the new Westgate without too much inconvenience to the rest of us.

After all, people will need to come from outside Oxford if all the coffee in the 25 new cafes is to be drunk.

There would be complaints if this was built, but there will always be complaints, not least if the enlarged Westgate has to be reached with no additional transport to it.

Roger Moreton
Oxford