North Auckland is growing fast. Areas identified for future urban growth in Silverdale, Dairy Flat, Wainui and Ōrewa are expected to accommodate 41,000 new homes, 22,000 new jobs and 110,000 new residents in the future. 

To support future urban growth, a well-designed integrated transport network for North Auckland is needed. We’re proposing long-term transport projects to help everyone move around safely, easily and sustainably, whether they’re walking, cycling, using public transport or driving.

We’re planning now because it’s important to protect the land needed to build new transport projects over the next  30 or more years as development occurs. It is anticipated they will be considered for funding in line with the long-term timeframes for the rezoning and release of land by Auckland Council.

To guide our planning, Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency outlined a long-term strategic transport network in 2019. It was developed with community consultation and contains options for local and longer distance trips to create a low-carbon transport system for North Auckland. Since then, the project team has investigated a number of preferred options for corridors within the network.

Key features of the long-term transport network for North Auckland: 

• Improved access to jobs and social facilities
• Reliable access for the movement of people and goods
• Provide travel choices to encourage a shift to active modes (walking and cycling) and public transport
• Provide a safe transport system for all users
• Ensure the transport network is well integrated with the land use.

We’re working with Auckland Council to integrate our transport planning with Auckland Council’s land use aspirations for the Future Urban Zone (including the Silverdale West Dairy Flat Industrial Area Structure Plan and a future Dairy Flat metropolitan/town centre) to create high-quality and more compact future communities with greater access to walking, cycling and public transport choices. 

Auckland Council is also consulting on their Future Development Strategy from 6 June 2023. The FDS aims to provide long term guidance on how the Council responds to factors such as climate change and related hazards, the location and timing of urban development, and investing in infrastructure that provides long term benefits for all.

The outcome of the FDS consultation will be an important consideration in the North Auckland Te Tupu Ngātahi projects.

You can share your thoughts on the FDS by following this link.

What long-term projects are we proposing?

We’re protecting land to enable the future development of a range of long-term transport projects:

• A new 16km rapid transit corridor from Albany via Dairy Flat and onto Milldale providing efficient, frequent, high-quality public transport
• Improved public transport connections for the wider area with bus priority on key routes including a high frequency bus route connecting Ōrewa and Silverdale
• 25km of new walking and cycling paths across North Auckland
• Improvements to State Highway 1 (SH1) including additional space to cater for more people moving around in the future, upgraded interchanges at Redvale and Silverdale and a new interchange at Wilks Road.

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