Easing congestion on Accent Drive

Online feedback for this project is open from 6th - 26th October 2025.

About the project

Accent Drive carries up to 17,000 vehicles, including 7.4% freight, each weekday. It is also part of Auckland’s Peak Transit Network, serving key bus routes that connect residential areas to commercial and industrial employment zones. Reliable travel times on this busy road are critical to improving public transport performance and making it a more attractive option.

Currently, Accent Drive faces several issues:

Daily congestion, particularly heading south towards Chapel Road in the afternoon
A bottleneck at Te Irirangi Drive where the road widens to two lanes at the intersection but narrows back to one lane
Variable travel times that impact freight efficiency and bus reliability.

We’re making targeted improvements to keep people and freight moving in East Tāmaki. We're focussing on Accent Drive as it's a key link between East Tāmaki Road, Te Irirangi Drive and Chapel Road. It connects one of Auckland’s largest industrial hubs with fast-growing residential suburbs such as Flat Bush and Ormiston.

Project plan

We are proposing:

Create an additional southbound lane along Accent Drive, from East Tamaki Road to Chapel Road, by narrowing parts of the existing median.
Along the southbound lane, an afternoon clearway will be introduced to ease congestion and improve traffic flow.
The clearway will only operate from 3-7pm on weekdays. On-street parking will remain available outside these hours, and alternative parking on side streets will continue to be available.
Add in broken yellow lines in parts to ensure safety for those accessing side roads and visibility during busy times.

View the proposal here.

These changes will be delivered without major infrastructure works, making better use of the road space we already have.

Benefits of these improvements

Reduce congestion and improve journey times for freight, commuters, and buses.
Improve network reliability for both public transport and general traffic.
Support more reliable public transport connections between residential, commercial, and industrial areas.

The clearway will only operate in the afternoon from 3–7pm. On-street parking will remain available outside these hours, and parking on side streets will continue to be available nearby.

Our data and modelling currently support installing an afternoon clearway to help ease congestion. We’d really value hearing about your experiences to help shape our understanding and future decisions.

Have your say

Your feedback will help us refine the design to make sure it works for both the community and the wider transport network.

What we want your feedback

We want to understand how these changes could affect your travel, parking, and access, and whether there are other improvements we should consider in addition to the proposal. In particular, we’d like to hear about:

Your connection to Accent Drive (resident, business, commuter, etc.)

How you travel through the area

Feedback on proposed clearway time (weekdays, 3–7pm)

Feedback on adding a southbound lane by narrowing the median

Suggestions for other improvements on Accent Drive (e.g. wayfinding (signage), bus stop upgrades)

Any other comments about the project e.g. broken yellow lines

Demographics.