Future upgrades to transport connections for Dairy Flat, Redvale, Silverdale, Silverdale West and Wainui East

Over the next 20 to 30 years urban growth will mean that North Auckland will need a range of new and improved transport choices to help new communities move around.

We’re planning now because it’s important to protect the land needed to build new transport connections over the next two to three decades as urban development occurs.

We’re proposing future transport connections and several upgrades to arterial roads in the urban growth areas of Dairy Flat, Redvale, Silverdale, Silverdale West and Wainui East. These new and improved upgrades will support future communities and help more people move around safely and more easily; allowing them to walk or cycle, use public transport or drive to connect to where they live, work, and play.

As North Auckland continues to grow and more people move into future communities, we’re preparing for the increase in their travel needs. Accommodating walking, cycling and public transport in these future transport corridors is a priority so people have sustainable transport choices that are good for their wellbeing and the environment.

These future road upgrades projects are yet to be prioritised for funding with construction expected within the next 20 to 30 years.

Why do we need these upgrades?

North Auckland is growing fast. By 2050 it’s expected there will be at least 41,000 new homes, 22,000 new jobs and 110,000 new residents. Most of this future urban growth will occur in Silverdale, Dairy Flat, Wainui and Ōrewa and as these areas develop and grow, they will need well-designed transport connections.  

We’re planning now so that we have enough land set aside in the future to complete these upgrades, before new housing and communities are built. We’ve investigated and developed preferred options for these upgrades. Your local knowledge will help make decisions to confirm these.

Benefits:

  • Enabling planned future urban growth, including the development of new housing, employment and connected communities.
  • Increased accessibility to a large range of transport choices including rapid public transport and quality walking and cycling facilities.
  • Improved connections to jobs and houses.
  • Safe transport corridors which respond to the changing nature of the surrounding land.

What are we proposing?

Dairy Flat Highway forms an important north-south connection for North Auckland. In the future the corridor will continue to provide facilities for all modes of transport. It will also provide a good level of resilience for the rest of the network, as it can be used as an alternative to State Highway 1 (SH1) if needed.

The facilities on the corridor will change depending on the expected land use and travel demands for that section of the road. The indicative cross sections along the corridor include:

  • The northern extent of the corridor between Silverdale Interchange and Wilks Road is proposed to be four lanes providing for bus lanes.
  • The central section between Wilks Road and Richards Road is proposed to be a two-lane corridor with walking and cycling on one side of the road. It is proposed that this corridor will be more rural in nature to respond to the adjacent rural land use to the west.
  • From Richards Road to Durey Road, the corridor is proposed to transition to an urban four lane corridor providing for bus lanes.
  • From Durey Road to Albany village the corridor will remain two lanes with walking and cycling on one side of the road and will remain rural in character.

In general, we will look to widen the corridor on both sides when passing through Future Urban Zone land. In the sections that are proposed to be urban on both sides, dedicated walking and cycling facilities and bus priority measures are proposed.

When the corridor has rural land on one side, we will look to widen into the Future Urban Zone. In the sections that are to remain rural on one or both sides, the corridor will remain two lanes, with dedicated walking and cycling facilities on one side of the road.

When passing through the rural zone at the Albany end, we will look to best avoid the significant constraints present over this section.

Upper Ōrewa Road plays an important role for north-south travel in the northern growth area. In the future, Upper Ōrewa Road will be upgraded and extended to create a new connection to provide travel for all modes from the growth area of Milldale to Grand Drive and Ōrewa.

This new connection is planned to be a two-lane road for most of its length, with dedicated walking and cycling facilities. There will be four lanes at the northern end to enable bus priority measures near the interchange. Where the corridor follows Upper Ōrewa Road, we will generally look to widen the corridor on both sides.

East Coast Road plays an important role for north-south travel in the northern growth area. In the future, the corridor will be improved to provide a connection for all modes between the growth areas of Silverdale and Redvale. East Coast Road will continue to provide an alternative to SH1 for travel between these two growth areas.

How the corridor looks will change depending on whether it is urban or rural; however dedicated walking and cycling facilities are proposed along the entire corridor and the road will remain two lanes. We will generally look to widen the corridor on both sides of the road.

In the future, Wainui Road will be upgraded to form an important east-west connection for all modes on the edge of the Milldale development. The corridor connects to SH1 and the Wainui interchange.

It is proposed to be a two-lane urban corridor with dedicated walking and cycling facilities on both sides of the road. We will generally look to widen the corridor on both sides of the road.

In the future, Bawden Road will be upgraded to provide an important east-west connection between SH1 and the Redvale interchange (an interchange proposed by the Penlink project) and the future development in Dairy Flat. It will be a key connection to/from the proposed future metropolitan/town centre in Dairy Flat and the Rapid Transit Corridor and as such will be an important link in the public transport network.

This corridor is proposed to be a four-lane urban corridor with bus lanes and dedicated walking and cycling facilities on both sides of the road. The nature of the corridor is likely to change in and around a future Dairy Flat centre. The cross-section through the centre would likely reduce to a two-lane urban corridor with dedicated walking and cycling facilities on both sides of the road, while buses may divert on a separate connection to the future rapid transit station. We will generally look to widen the corridor on both sides of the road.

In the future, an upgraded Pine Valley Road will provide an important east west connection between Silverdale to the edge of the future urban zone.

The corridor is proposed to be a two-lane urban corridor with dedicated walking and cycling facilities. We will generally look to widen the corridor on both sides of the road.

We’re proposing a future new link road to connect Kahikatea Flat Road (at the Dairy Flat Highway intersection) to Wilks Road. The corridor will provide an east-west connection through the centre of the Silverdale West - Dairy Flat Industrial Area.

The corridor will form an important link between the future industrial area and SH1, including the proposed new interchange at Wilks Road.

The road will be a two lane corridor widening to four lanes east of Postman Road.

In the future, we’re proposing to upgrade the corridor from Silverdale to Grand Drive along Hibiscus Coast Highway to improve walking, cycling and public transport facilities. Attractive and safe walking and cycling paths are proposed along Hibiscus Coast Highway and Grand Drive through the existing areas of Silverdale and Ōrewa.

This upgrade will provide a link between existing communities to the new growth areas and the strategic walking and cycling corridor on SH1. Public transport priority measures at key intersections along the corridor are proposed to improve bus reliability and travel time. We are proposing to provide these improvements within the existing road corridor.