New checks added before Cambridge transport options are assessed

Waipā District Council added two new checks to its Cambridge Connections transport planning assessment framework at its Strategic Planning and Policy meeting today. These checks will happen before any transport options are scored or recommended.

The new checks make sure each transport idea fits the road's future use and matches Cambridge’s wider transport plans.

Growth Strategy and Planning Director Katie Mayes said the extra checks ensure the right changes happen on the right roads.

"Every road has a job to do," Mayes said. "Some need to move trucks reliably. Others need to be quiet, low-speed streets where children can walk and bike to school. Some need to carry buses. These two new checks simply force us to check, every time, whether an idea helps a road do its job or gets in the way."

"Without them, we could end up recommending a change that looks good on its own but is wrong for that specific road. Adding them means any mismatch shows up on paper before we recommend anything."

These checks are just one part of the planning process. They do not decide what gets built.

The Council committee will look at three key pieces of information on Wednesday, August 26. These are findings from the network review, the completed future network assessments and the first round of traffic modelling (computer simulations of how traffic moves) on the four bridge corridor options.

Mayes said the assessment framework was deliberately being published before any option was preferred.

"We said at the reset that we would show our thinking first and be clear about what is settled and what is still open. The updated criteria and checks can be found on the project website, with an explanation of what has been added and why. Nothing has been assessed against them yet."

Landowners, residents and ratepayers who may be directly affected by a proposed corridor, or by a proposed change to the role of a road, will be contacted before that information is made public.

From late August the draft picture of Cambridge’s future transport network will be shared with the community to check the detail with us, before a draft Cambridge Connections Transport Plan goes out for formal public consultation from Thursday, October 8. The Committee is scheduled to adopt the final plan on Wednesday, December 2.

More information: letstalk.waipadc.govt.nz/cambridge-connections.