At a public submissions hearing on Wednesday, Webb said the Christchurch City Council's role in managing the downstream effects of the Northern Corridor was to make people's lives better.
The Christchurch Northern Corridor is a new piece of road designed to manage traffic flow through the north of the city. New road will run from Waimakariri Bridge to Cranford St when the Corridor is complete. Traffic is expected to increase by about 30 percent on Cranford St when the new road opens in 2020.
The council released a Downstream Effects Management Plan mid-March giving ideas to reduce the impact of this traffic in the St Albans, Edgeware, and Mairehau area.
Webb, who is the MP for Christchurch Central, said the management plan needed to have a strong focus on keeping communities feeling safe. He said the plan should find a better balance between traffic efficiency and splitting a community in half.
Webb remarked that making Cranford St a barrier between two sides of the community was "not good enough" and that the current plan would not make lives better.
He proposed the plan focus instead on development for high capacity public transport as well as more options for cyclists and other non-motorised vehicle users, saying the council shouldn’t have to bend over backwards to encourage utilisation of the motorway.
He said this would be a way to minimise disruption caused by higher traffic volumes and also would work towards carbon neutrality goals.