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Sheppard Line 4 Subway Extension (Proposed)

I actually don't have disdain for the existence of Bessarion station considering how much development has gone up in the area immediately surrounding the station. If you are building a rapid transit line along a corridor that isn't absurdly hostile towards development (e.g. cul-de-sac with backyards facing arterial), then it may as well have stops every 800 metres.
 
There has basically been 0 development around Bessarion since the subway opened however. All the intensification has focused around other stations.

Now that Concord Park Place is moving further west in it's development phase you will see some new development in it's catchment area - but generally there has been little to no intensification.
 
I wonder if Willowdale would be a good 'test case' for the new developer-based station construction method that Metrolinx is moving towards. To date they're really only looking at it from a GO perspective, but given that this is one of the prime infill spots on the subway network (Blythwood being the other), it may be worth taking a look at. Even if it doesn't cover 100% of the capital costs, it would certainly reduce the bill by a fair bit.
 
gweed123 said:
I wonder if Willowdale would be a good 'test case' for the new developer-based station construction method that Metrolinx is moving towards. To date they're really only looking at it from a GO perspective, but given that this is one of the prime infill spots on the subway network (Blythwood being the other), it may be worth taking a look at. Even if it doesn't cover 100% of the capital costs, it would certainly reduce the bill by a fair bit.
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Going from memory, I believe there is no protection for a centre platform for the Willowdale station and it would have to be side ones like they did for North York Centre station. When one looks at the surface area, it would require a major bulldozing to get any real density to support a station over 10,000 riders a day that will take decades to build in the first place.

Based on all new development around Bessarion this past decade, ridership hasn't increase that much at all. Even when Concord Place is fully built out, it will make a small blimp on ridership level for the station.
 
drum118 said:
Going from memory, I believe there is no protection for a centre platform for the Willowdale station and it would have to be side ones like they did for North York Centre station. When one looks at the surface area, it would require a major bulldozing to get any real density to support a station over 10,000 riders a day that will take decades to build in the first place.

Based on all new development around Bessarion this past decade, ridership hasn't increase that much at all. Even when Concord Place is fully built out, it will make a small blimp on ridership level for the station.
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The community centre is honestly more likely to increase ridership at the station. The neighborhood around the station needs a local bus service for the station to see some increase in ridership, but that won't happen given the bus shortage.
 
drum118 said:
Going from memory, I believe there is no protection for a centre platform for the Willowdale station and it would have to be side ones like they did for North York Centre station. When one looks at the surface area, it would require a major bulldozing to get any real density to support a station over 10,000 riders a day that will take decades to build in the first place.

Based on all new development around Bessarion this past decade, ridership hasn't increase that much at all. Even when Concord Place is fully built out, it will make a small blimp on ridership level for the station.
Click to expand...

I think the minimum threshold metrics may need to change if the developer-based model is adopted. Right now, the minimum ridership threshold is based on "if we cover 100% of the costs of building the station, this is how many riders per day we will need in order to make it worthwhile". If you're only covering 25% of the capital cost, shouldn't that minimum ridership threshold change as well? I'm not saying it should change by the same degree, but there should be some reduction there.

Also, given the bare-bones nature of the Sheppard Subway, it doesn't surprise me that they didn't future-proof this location. At least with the North Yonge extension they put in straight and flat sections for future Blythwood and North York Centre stations.
 
M II A II R II K said:
Perhaps they could do a test case on a Consumers station or at VP.
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A small extension in order to validate would be just as justified as an infill station, definitely. Though any extension on Sheppard runs the risk of opening up a whole can of worms. At least with an infill there isn't any new track being added.
 
M II A II R II K said:
A Senlac station could be an infill station, wouldn't really add any track for that either.
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I wonder, back it the day, if they decided to extend Sheppard to Downsview station, how much extra would it have cost?
Let's assume 1 station at Bathurst, of course a new platform at Sheppard/Dufferin, and with provisions for future station at Senlac.
Now how much would they have saved if they wouldn't have built the giant Spanish Solution station at Yonge-Sheppard, and just tied into the Wilson yard roughly at-grade?
 
innsertnamehere said:
There has basically been 0 development around Bessarion since the subway opened however. All the intensification has focused around other stations.

Now that Concord Park Place is moving further west in it's development phase you will see some new development in it's catchment area - but generally there has been little to no intensification.
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Not quite true. North York MEC is right across the street I have learned. That alone should make the traffic about 100 times what it has been.
 
TransitBart said:
Not quite true. North York MEC is right across the street I have learned. That alone should make the traffic about 100 times what it has been.
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Currently about 3,000 on a weekday. I'll eat my hat if goes up 10 times to 30,000, let alone 100 times!

100 more a day would be more likely.
 
nfitz said:
Currently about 3,000 on a weekday. I'll eat my hat if goes up 10 times to 30,000, let alone 100 times!

100 more a day would be more likely.
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Sheppard is our G line; 21 stations, 85 years to build ridership, $1B in upgrades over the last decade alone, and still only 1/3rd the ridership of the Bloor line.

There were few mid-capacity options in 1935 but we can better match infrastructure to demand today.
 
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