Option 1 for Sheppard is to complete the West portion to Downsview and connect it to the Spadina line. This would give anyone on Sheppard access to Vaughan, York U, Yorkdale, UofT, Hospital Row and City Hall. Also, 1 transfer gets you onto the ECLRT or any other west-bound bus. It also keeps maybe 1/3 of the downtown-bound people off the Yonge line. Although there would be calls to extend the subway to STC, I have put in the SELRT. The cost of this is about $2.5B (5km x $300M/km plus the $1B for SELRT).
Option 2 is to convert Sheppard to SkyTrain and elevate the East and West parts. This create a line from Malvern to Downsview, via STC. Of course, the Eglinton line would also have to become SkyTrain - but this probably makes sense to reduce the closure time and save conversion costs. This way the Sheppard line could share the Jack Goodlad Maintenance Yard, just south of the hydro corridor. The cost of this is about $2.0B ($200M Sheppard conversion + (4+9) km x $140M/km).
Option 3 is to use on-street LRT. This creates a continuous line from Morningside to Downsview (probably more frequent service in the Don Mills to Yonge stretch. The cost of this is about $2.0B ($700M Sheppard conversion + $1B SELRT + 4 km x $60M/km + 2 portals x $25M).
Option 1 supposes that a Sheppard West will serve as a Yonge relief. IIRC that's been debunked. Nobody will travel from east of Yonge to Dufferin/Allen Rd, only to double-back and end up near Yonge. Or vice versa; that's 7km extra. If anything, it will
add to Yonge's crush by siphoning more riders from the west. At least that's my take. And is $300M/km realistic? The West Don valley is a 100ft-deep gorge, which will undoubtedly complicate ($$) things by requiring a bridge, slope stabilization, wealthy NIMBY uproar. Or a tunnel with mammoth cavernous stations on either side.
As for any stations between Bathurst and Yonge (i.e Senlac)...would residents even allow one? Maybe it was something I read here, but it had to do with Willowdale residents actually
opposing a Sheppard West line because they didn't want a station with the added congestion, noise, and riffraff.
Either way, it seems like any Sheppard West would have only one station between Downsview and Yonge (Bathurst); and that any development will be strictly between Bathurst and Downsvew (which is already happening with the medium-rise stuff we’re seeing now).
Option 2 seems good, but I can’t picture an elevated route on the west section. It’s a narrow 4-lane road with a narrow or nonexistent boulevard/roadway allowance. Not to mention wealthy NIMBYs. Basically Option 2 would require a tunnel and costly valley crossing just like option 1.
Option 3 we’ll find out soon enough. I don’t think it’ll happen. After the latest news it seems that even progressive transit advocates would rather nothing over in-median it seems. And honestly, I don’t blame them. 10km is a long ass route for in-median. There would be a lot of people pissed that they can’t make left turn from their driveway.
Sheppard was built with the wrong technology, and at the wrong time. It was originally meant to serve as a northern crosstown, but disregarded realistic light technology or routing choices like a Finch hydro corridor. And somehow Eglinton has now officially taken the role of crosstown, while a Midtown GO line is still a very realistic possibility in the future.
Because of our hub/spoke system layout, it just doesn’t seem logical to pour that kind of money into a third (or fourth with a GO Midtown) Toronto-specific crosstown transit line... particularly when it’s a very expensive local-service underground subway. Chicago doesn’t have any crosstowns, particularly any suburban ones. Out of 25 lines, NYC only has one; as does Moscow. And London’s is U/C but travels through the city centre. We should be building more spokes, not wheels. It may sound a bit assholish, but commuters can travel to Eglinton if they want to get across the city. Or try to convince the Prov to look at using the Midtown line, Finch hydro corridor, or maybe 407 right of way to build a crosstown commuter line.
Looking at a subway map with an extended Sheppard + Eglinton looks like a game of Jenga, with only one block on the bottom holding up an unbalanced tower on the verge of toppling over.