Downsview (TTC)

Downsview
Location 1035 Sheppard Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
Coordinates 43°44′58″N 79°27′43″W / 43.74944°N 79.46194°W / 43.74944; -79.46194Coordinates: 43°44′58″N 79°27′43″W / 43.74944°N 79.46194°W / 43.74944; -79.46194
Platforms centre platform
Tracks 2
Connections TTC buses
Viva Orange
Construction
Structure type underground
Parking 641 spaces
Disabled access Yes
Architect Adamson Associates Architects
Stevens Group Architects
History
Opened March 30 1996
Traffic
Passengers (2013[1]) 38,750
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
Terminus Yonge–University
toward Finch
toward Vaughan
 Yonge–University Extension in 2018

Downsview is a subway station on the Yonge–University line in Toronto, Canada. The station, which is located at the southeast corner of Sheppard Avenue West-William R. Allen Road intersection, is currently the northern terminus of the western branch of the line, until the Spadina subway extension is completed, no earlier than 2018.

The station opened in 1996 in what was then the City of North York, and the Viva Orange bus rapid transit route of York Region’s Viva Rapid Transit commenced service on October 16, 2005. The large commuter parking lot, accessible via Allen Road and Sheppard Avenue, opened in July 2005.

When this station opened, it was among the first accessible stations.[2]

Name

Downsview Station will be renamed "Sheppard West" once the Spadina extension opens.[3] The new name was proposed in 2010 and on 28 September 2012 the renaming was approved.[4] [3] It was renamed to avoid confusion with the Downsview Park station, which had itself been expected to be called Sheppard West.

Architecture and art

Downsview station was designed by Adamson Associates Architects (above grade buildings and mezzanine) and The Stevens Group Architects (below grade).[5] The subway platform lacks pillars and the ceiling is high and curved, evoking an aircraft hangar. High ceilings, skylights and an exceptionally large mezzanine make the station feel open and airy. Natural light reaches all areas of the station including the subway platform.

The station features two pieces of artwork. Sliding Pi is a large scale wall mosaic by Calgary artist Arlene Stamp. It can be viewed when traveling between the bus platform and the mezzanine level. Boney Bus by John McKinnon is located in front of the station and consists of an abstract bus shape made from giant aluminum beams and basalt "wheels".

Subway infrastructure in the vicinity

The subway platform is located underground east of Allen Road. The line continues south underground for 750 metres to cross to the west side of the road; after exiting at the Clayton Park Portal the line runs on the surface past Wilson Yard, the TTC’s newest subway yard, which opened in 1978. At this point Allen Road becomes an elevated expressway; the subway, using what were originally the yard access tracks, crosses under its southbound lanes and rises to the road's level.

Nearby landmarks

Nearby landmarks include Downsview Park, which was the site of the World Youth Day Papal Visit in 2002 and the ‘SARSstock’ concert in 2003. It is the site of an airstrip used as a military base (CFB Downsview), and by an aircraft manufacturer (DeHavilland), separating the station area from the original village of Downsview. William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute lies to the northeast in the Bathurst Manor neighbourhood.

Surface connections

View down to the fare control mezzanine from ground level and the bus platforms
Bus bays as viewed from Sheppard Avenue

TTC routes serving the station include:

84B to Weston Road
84C to Steeles Avenue via Arrow Road (Rush hour service)
84D to Steeles Avenue via Oakdale Road (Rush hour service)
105B to Major Mackenzie Drive (Extra fare required north of Steeles Avenue)
105C to Steeles Avenue
107C to Teston Road via York University (Extra fare required north of Steeles Avenue)
107D to McNaughton Road (Extra fare required north of Steeles Avenue)
108B to Jane Street & Driftwood Avenue via Arleta Avenue
117B to Steeles Avenue via Flint Road & Alness Street
196B to York University (Express Service)
196B to Sheppard-Yonge Station (Express service)

Viva bus rapid transit

VIVA Orange bus inside the station

Downsview Station is served by the Orange line of York Region’s Viva bus rapid transit system. Service began on October 16, 2005.

Viva buses stop three times at Downsview. Buses offload all of their passengers at a stop outside station entrance before proceeding within the bus terminal to pick up passengers. This is to ensure that Viva riders do not access the TTC without paying a TTC fare, as the bus terminal is inside the station's fare paid zone. After this, they stop a third time, westbound on Sheppard Avenue, to pick up passengers who did not transfer from the subway or a TTC bus.

This Vivastation is considered a Viva ‘terminal’. Therefore, there are multiRide ticket vending machines available.

Subway extensions

Construction is underway on an extension of the Yonge–University line north from Downsview to York University and Steeles Avenue and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The Government of Ontario has committed $670 million – one third of the expected cost – to extending the Spadina subway past Steeles to the proposed Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The project was expected to be completed by the autumn of 2016,[6] but it is now estimated that 31 December 2017 would be the earliest achievable date to deliver the project.[7]

The TTC has proposed that Downsview be renamed Sheppard West with the opening of the Spadina extension, and that the proposed new Sheppard West station be named Downsview Park. This is because Downsview station is better identified as being on Sheppard Avenue, while Sheppard West (Downsview Park) is closer to the entrance of Downsview Park.[8]

The original plans for the Sheppard line called for it to connect with the Yonge–University line at Downsview, but when constructed in the late 1990s the extension to the line was temporarily halted at the roughed in "Senlac" station after the first phase due to funding issues. After election in Fall 2010, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford indicated that completing the Sheppard line to its original route is his top transit priority.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Subway ridership, 2013" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved September 12, 2015. This table shows the typical number of customer-trips made on each subway on an average weekday and the typical number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on an average weekday.
  2. ↑ "Milestones". About the TTC. Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved December 2014. 1996: Downsview Station, Bloor-Yonge Station, and Union Station become the first accessible subway stations.
  3. 1 2 Kalinowski, Tess (28 September 2012). "TTC names new subway station for Black Creek Pioneer Village". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
  4. ↑ Toronto Transit Commission Report - September 30, 2010
  5. ↑ http://www.ttc.ca/postings/gso-comrpt/documents/report/f3246/_conv.htm
  6. ↑ "Schedule Status Update" (PDF). Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension Project. Toronto Transit Commission. 24 October 2012. Retrieved January 2013.
  7. ↑ A. Byford, CEO (26 March 2015). "Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension – Schedule and Budget Change" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved May 2015. The TYSSE project is currently 70 per cent complete. However, it has been determined that the publicly stated opening date of the end of 2016 and the approved budget are not achievable. This report recommends that a comprehensive project “reset” involving a new third-party project manager be undertaken to deliver the project by December 31st, 2017
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ "Rob Ford ready to let transit projects hold in favour of Sheppard subway". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). 23 August 2012.

External links

Media related to Downsview Station at Wikimedia Commons

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