Twickenham’s bid to become a “mini Holland” is one step closer after it was shortlisted for the Mayor of London’s cycle funding.

Boris Johnson chose eight out of 20 London boroughs to enter the final round of the competition, which will see three or four boroughs win a share of £100m to make them as cycle friendly as the Dutch capital.

The winners, to be announced early next year, will be selected from the boroughs of Richmond, Bexley, Ealing, Enfield, Kingston, Merton, Newham and Waltham Forest.

If approved Richmond’s proposals would transform Twickenham by creating cycle lanes on unused land alongside railway lines, improve access at bridges and junctions and install cycle parking hubs at stations.

The plans also include a building a bridge across the Thames between Twickenham and Ham, creating cycle routes along the A316 into London and increasing quiet routes in residential roads to town centres and Heathrow.

At the announcement on Tuesday, September 2, Richmond was told it was shortlisted subject to addressing certain gaps in its proposals but the council said it had not yet received official notification of what these were.

Richmond’s cabinet member for highways and street scene, Councillor Chris Harrison, said success in the competition would let the council take cycling to a new level.

He said: “We are as serious about cycling in this borough as we are about improving the environment and it is a delight to be chosen by the Mayor of London to go through to the final round of this exciting competition.

“We look forward to working with the Mayor’s office and Transport for London to develop our proposals to the next stage.

“There are some caveats in being shortlisted but we are confident we can resolve these requirements.”

Zac Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston, was delighted Richmond’s submission was shortlisted.

He said: “Providing Londoners with safe and sustainable cycle routes will cut down the capital’s dependence on cars and help provide a healthier and safer environment for us all to share.

“I very much hope Richmond and Kingston will be successful in the next stage of the process, so they can deliver real improvements to the cycling infrastructure in our constituency.”

A spokesman for Richmond Cycling Campaign said: “We’re delighted that the borough has been shortlisted, and we think the bid has some great ideas.

“It is a shame, however, that the current detailed proposals for Twickenham town centre are of such poor quality when we could incorporate some of the simple ideas from the mini Holland bid right now into the current Twickenham works.”