The much-mooted cycle bridge across the IJ in Amsterdam will become a reality now that the budget has been sorted – but not for another 10 years.

Last week, the board of the transport region Amsterdam, which comprises the city and 13 surrounding regions, decided to meet half of the cost of the bridge estimated at €300 million.

The other half will be paid by Amsterdam city council.

Plans for a bridge linking Amsterdam Noord to the rest of the city have been proposed for two centuries. “It was a bit of a moment,” Amsterdam’s transport chief Melanie van der Horst told the Telegraaf. “We started two years ago with nothing and now we have the complete amount,” she said.

The bridge will also benefit the surrounding regions, transport region board member Marja Ruigrok told the paper. “The IJ is an obstacle. This bridge will be an important link for the people who live north of the city, in Waterland, Zaanstad and Purmerend,” she said.

Amsterdam-Noord has had accessibility problems, with ferry connections and the Noord-Zuid metro link out of action on one day at the beginning of this year. “We owe it to the people of Amsterdam Noord to become part of the city completely. The ferries can’t cope and we can’t put it off any longer,” she told the paper.

Van der Horst said she expects between 20,000 and 25,000 people will use the bridge on a daily basis.

The parties are not afraid costs will rise along the way, as they did with disastrous rapidity when the Noord-Zuid link was built. The light railway line came in at €3.1 billion instead of the original estimate of €1 billion.

“It may go over budget a bit, but we are prepared for that,” Van der Horst said of the bridge. She also said that although the design is not yet known, it may incorporate parts of discarded bridges.

“That would be a good fit for the city and the times, but it will also be a beautiful bridge. Amsterdam must have a bridge with attitude,” she said.

At 1.2 kilometres long, the new “Oostbrug” will be one of the longest bridges in the country.