ONE in four journeys should be made by bicycle under Oxford City Council plans to push people out of their cars.

The Town Hall is set to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in improving facilities for cyclists, which could one day include two new bridges across the Thames.

About 15 per cent of journeys to work in Oxford are made by bike, compared to an average of three per cent across England and Wales.

But the councillor responsible for city development, Colin Cook, said he hoped that could soon rival Cambridge’s 26 per cent.

Mr Cook, a keen cyclist, said: “We want to try and move something forward faster than the glacial rate that local authorities move.

“We want to do something a bit more joined up between the city and the county councils. We are going to put in some money and draw up a host of schemes and put them in order of priority.”

The city council is putting £300,000 of capital funding into the project over four years, plus £10,000 a year to support setting up the project.

An extra £560,000 may be available in contributions paid by developers who have secured planning permission for homes or businesses across the city.

In the longer term, changes to the way developers pay councils cash to help the city cope with new developments may allow major projects to go ahead.

Currently, so-called Section 106 money can often only be spent in the close vicinity of where a development takes place.

But in April 2013 the city council is expected to adopt the new Community Infrastructure Levy – effectively a tax on developers which offers councils far fewer restrictions on how it can be used.

Mr Cook said major schemes which could attract funding included a new bridge across the Thames to create a route from Abingdon Road to The Plain, and a new cycle route across the river further upstream at Osney Mead.

He added: “We want to look at big projects like that, but also try to improve the cycle routes.

“It is a mixture of getting deals lined up on big projects and using our resources on simple stuff.”

James Styring from cyclists’ lobby group Cyclox said he looked forward to working with the two councils.

Projects highlighted by Cyclox include a new cycle lane under Botley Road railway bridge, and improvements at the junction at Broad Street and Parks Road.

Mr Styring said: “We have been aware for many years that there is Section 106 money which could be spent on cycling, but have found that the county council’s priorities have been bus and road projects.We have gone on about the Botley Road bridge until we are blue in the face.

“If the city council can bring some new energy for projects like this, that would be superb.”