A TEN-year plan to up the number of cyclists in Oxford by 50 per cent will be discussed next week.

The Oxford Local Cycling and Walking Plan provides a detailed timetable of measures Oxfordshire County Council can take to increase the uptake of cycling by 2031.

There are currently 300,000 cycle trips taken a week in Oxford, including commuters and people cycling for fun.

Under the new cycle plan the number of trips would increase to 450,000.

Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet will discuss the plan when it meets next Tuesday at County Hall.

In a foreword to the 60-page plan, Yvonne Constance, OCC cabinet member for the Environment, said it was part of a range of measures to tackle the 'challenges of climate change, housing growth, air pollution and the growing public health crisis of physical inactivity'.

To increase the number of cyclists on Oxford's roads, OCC has plans to create a comprehensive network of cycle paths in the city, make speed limits on some roads slower so cyclists feel safer, and remove pavement parking.

These measures and others are part of an 'eight pillared' approach the council wants to take.

The plan will also tie into Connecting Oxford, a scheme which OCC and Oxford City Council are working on together to decrease congestion on the roads of the city.

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Bikes at Oxford Station.

Measures in this scheme include introducing 'bus gates' on certain main roads into the city, which vehicles apart from public transport would be charged for using.

The cycling plans are 'dependent' on Connecting Oxford according to a council report, with the intention being that less cars on the roads will encourage more people to cycle.

Though the scheme is city focused, it also links up with cycle paths outside Oxford, and could lead to more cycle trips to villages outside the city.

The new cycling plan is part of a much larger scheme to encourage local transport across the county, which the council is currently writing.

While Oxford is the first part of the council where a local cycling and walking plan will be put in place, it is not the only one.

Similar schemes for Bicester and Didcot are also being drawn up by OCC and will be released later in the year.