THE cost of a proposed new cycle highway in Southampton could top £1.7m, it has been revealed.

The city council’s Cabinet is expected to approve spending £1.776m on the scheme, which would connect the eastern side of the city with the centre.

As previously revealed in the Daily Echo, the scheme is inspired by a similar project in Holland and would see narrow cycle paths on the Itchen Bridge replaced with a wider shared footpath and cycleway.

The superhighway would run from Woolston station to St Mary’s Place and would also feature an off-road route around the roundabout at the Woolston side of the Itchen Bridge.

The route was designed by cyclists who use the route, city council road safety experts and engineers from design company Urban Movement.

Now city council chiefs are set to approve funding for the scheme at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, after carrying out consultation which found that 95 per cent of those asked were in favour of the project.

A total of £530,000 of the funding will come from Government grants, while £358,000 comes from contributions made to the council by developers