Hundreds weigh in Cambridge’s congestion issues

Tuesday, 17 March 2026

Waipā District Council has received more than 1000 transport ideas from 461 public submissions as it works to tackle Cambridge’s growing congestion issues.

Common themes from community consultation will now be used to create a long list of transport ideas, with early analysis of feedback showing land use planning, cycle improvements, public transport, intersection improvements, and another bridge emerge as the key themes.

The public brainstorm, which ran from January 27 until March 9, was the second phase for the council’s long-term Cambridge Connections project and aims to create a 30-year-plan addressing transport pressures in the rapidly-growing town.

Speaking to elected members at Monday’s Risk and Assurance Committee, Waipā District Council executive director Katie Mayes said the consultation had drawn submissions from a range of individuals and organisations in the community.

“It's fantastic that we've got such a range of feedback from everybody, and we're feeling very pleased that we have hit all of the stakeholder groups who we really wanted to hit.”

Since the Cambridge Connections project was reset in early 2025 following complaints residents were not adequately consulted during the plan’s development, community engagement has been a key focus area for the council.

A quarterly report on Cambridge Connection’s risk profile tabled at the meeting said the council had taken “a broad community approach with increased public events, promotional material, a mailout to all residents, and weekly newspaper advertising.

Currently, three of the project’s measures of success - strong community trust, improved communication and engagement, and demonstrable progress on the project - were on track to be delivered, the report said.

Once the long list of transport options is collated, it would be presented to councillors on April 1 to decide how the ideas should be assessed into a short list. The public would be consulted on a draft transport plan from August to October.

Cambridge ward councillor Roger Gordon said the amount of feedback the council had received was “really exciting”.

He asked Mayes whether February’s weather events and state of emergency in the district would impede on finalised transport plan, which was due by the end of the year.

Mayes replied that it wouldn’t.

“We certainly have a tight time frame to work to throughout this year and we are really conscious of that, but no, we are expecting to remain on track.”

More information about the project is available on the council’s Cambridge Connections web page.