Hamilton City Council can't put off improving some of the city's worst areas for traffic, councillor Dave Macpherson said. The intersection of Bridge Street - or Anzac Parade - and Anglesea Street was one place he singled out.

Four Hamilton "choke points" are in the sights of a city councillor who says the traffic flow needs to be fixed.

Council can't wait to break the gridlock, Dave Macpherson said.

And council experts agree that growth is putting more pressure on Hamilton roads than ever before.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Councillor Dave Macpherson was challenged for using non-objective language in his report, including "doesn't cut the mustard" and "bite the bullet".

Macpherson listed four areas for urgent attention in a chair's report to Tuesday's growth and infrastructure committee meeting.

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They are: the Cambridge Road off-ramp into the city "and associated shambles and congestion at the Morrinsville Rd connection", the Norton Road roundabout, the Ohaupo Road approach from the southwest, and the Gordonton Road-Wairere Drive intersection.

"Work needs to be done within the next year, and I think Council will have to bite that bullet," Macpherson wrote.

It would take six to nine years for council to do everything needed to get traffic flowing between Hamilton's north and south, Macpherson later said.

If it doesn't start now, it'll fall behind.

"I've been moaning about [the congestion] for... about five years," he said.

"I have been sending Chris [Allen, general manager of city infrastructure] texts when I'm literally stationary in traffic trying to come through the Norton Road roundabout."

There are inner-city snarl-ups too, his report said: the Anglesea St/Bridge St intersection, the Heaphy/Boundary Rds intersection, Five Crossroads, and Davies Corner.

Hamiltonians might even fork out via a targeted rate for improvements, he said.

Solutions could range from connecting bus lanes to ramp metering, or traffic lights on the entrance to roundabouts.

Council would have to take the lead, he said, but NZTA would be involved.

Growth is putting more pressure on Hamilton's transport network than ever before, Allen said.

Council already monitors traffic signals through its Transport Operations Centre.

"You can change the traffic signals and put another two seconds of green time... to try and move as much traffic as we can."

But there's no one way for council to reduce congestion - some intersections may need more lanes, others may need better bus lanes, he said.

From a council perspective, Macpherson's top four projects would probably have to be addressed through the long-term plan.

Some inner-city areas he mentioned could be improved sooner if councillors decided to use the discretionary transport fund.

At the meeting, Councillor Rob Pascoe asked for Macpherson's definition of choke point.

A temporary bottleneck might be expected sometimes, he said, such as if "for half an hour the Fairfield Bridge perhaps has some degree of congestion".

Macpherson said he wasn't trying to be technical, and was referring to areas where one blocked intersection affected another further away.

His report challenged the use of roundabouts at some of the pressure points.

But slang in the report didn't sit well with Councillor Garry Mallett, who pointed out phrases like "doesn't cut the mustard" and "bite the bullet".

They were colourful and a good read, he said, but "maybe if you could be a bit more objective in your terminology."

Macpherson scotched that suggestion, saying he would keep being colloquial.

And not everyone agreed with the sentiment behind the words either - Councillor Leo Tooman said a little bit of congestion wasn't a bad thing.