Sir - The bridge that carried Hythe Bridge Street over the Oxford Canal was wide enough for Thames barges, let alone narrowboats! There is also enough width for a towpath.

In 1951, builders blocked up the bridge but left its deck in place. The carriageway surface at the crown of the bridge is 2.7 metres above the canal level. In 1990 Thames Water dug through part of the deck and measured it as 0.475 metres thick. The difference between these figures shows 2.2 metres of headroom can be reinstated under the street.

If Bill Leonard (letter, May 25) surveyed the site by correctly using proper instruments his results will be similar.

Modern traffic probably needs a stronger bridge. This could be an attractive structure enhancing Oxford's West End regeneration.

British Waterways envisages a canal terminal including new property worth about £29m.

Benefits include:

  • 55,500 sq ft of new housing on a brownfield site in an environmentally sustainable location
  • half the housing must be affordable homes that local workers sorely need
  • 33,500 sq ft of new cafés, restaurants and other commercial space
  • a healthy income for the freeholder, Nuffield College
  • £1m per year extra income for Oxford's economy
  • 37 permanent jobs
  • extending the towpath under Hythe Bridge Street to just opposite New Road
  • encouraging walking and cycling to central Oxford
  • ten 48-hour moorings accommodating up to 100 visitors per night
  • turning 70 foot narrowboats in the Georgian Y-shaped terminal instead of Sheepwash Channel via Isis Lock would conserve water in the canal
  • the Environment Agency thinks the terminal could help control flooding
  • the view between Castle Hill and Hythe Bridge would be along canal wharves framed by new buildings
  • another heritage-rich destination for blue badge guides, including Bill Leonard Hugh Jaeger Friends of the Oxford Canal & Basin