scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
Leslie's one of those stations, like Wilson, where you just shake your head while walking (and walking and walking) through it. Downsview is ridiculously overbuilt as well, but it's rather attractive, in somewhat of a showcase location, and a terminus (even though not intended to be a 'this far, no farther' terminus like Finch). Downsview is cavernous...but imagine how stupid it'd be if the mezzanine extended over the entire platform *and* the stairs/washrooms/bus bays/sleeping, er, collector booths/etc. extended well beyond the platform.
There is a bit of 'can't have your cake and eat it too' regarding keeping all the structures within and above the platform because spaces that go well beyond the platform tend to improve the accessibility on the surface from a pedestrian's perspective. Bessarion, for instance, has two exits in the middle of the platform instead of one at each end, and does not minimize the distance to transit. Lawrence's staircases could have been shifted so that they reached the surface at the end of the platform and not a block away, but this would A) mean beginning both staircases in the middle of the platform and not at each end, which is not as ideal for crowd control or emergency egress and B) mean increasing the walking distance to the station, and even though the distance to the platform wouldn't change, people would feel like their trip is shorter if the distance between their front door and the place where they actually pay their fare is minimized. There is a C option, but having stairs do switchbacks is bad for circulation and requires so many escalators that the TTC budget would need to double due to repairmen. Of course, this only applies to very deep stations...but since the powers that be insist that everything be tunnelled, we're going to keep running into these problems. A shallow/trenched/at-grade/elevated station doesn't need to excavate out another 100m of cavern to fit stairs. That doesn't mean they don't build these tunnels, anyway, though.
We've been over this and you're wrong. That entrance hut is also not a mezzanine and it doesn't sit on flat ground, so unless you want a sloping floor, you need some stairs somewhere. You must walk up to the southern entrance hut of York Mills station, too. That doesn't mean York Mills isn't underground.
With Leslie, you currently have 3 entrances on the same corner of Leslie & Sheppard, and a fourth will be built on the same corner when the Canadian Tire HQ is built. We want multiple entrances at each station, but not long tunnels to serve the same place. Spread the entrances around. Overbuild like Downsview, don't overbuild like Leslie. There's a difference, and the latter is a waste of money. Why take a nearly 100m tunnel all the way to Leslie and then not cross the street?
Tall ceilings are better than short ceilings, particularly when it means not filling the station back in with useless mezzanines, but why didn't the stubway cross the Don on a bridge instead of a raised tunnel? It's not like the bus terminal, the light wells, the substation, etc., are prepped for redevelopment or that the intersection is lined with stores and homes. The sky is a taller ceiling. Having transit run only in tunnels diminishes the riding experience...imagine the other lines without their outdoor segments, even - especially - the brief flashes.
There is a bit of 'can't have your cake and eat it too' regarding keeping all the structures within and above the platform because spaces that go well beyond the platform tend to improve the accessibility on the surface from a pedestrian's perspective. Bessarion, for instance, has two exits in the middle of the platform instead of one at each end, and does not minimize the distance to transit. Lawrence's staircases could have been shifted so that they reached the surface at the end of the platform and not a block away, but this would A) mean beginning both staircases in the middle of the platform and not at each end, which is not as ideal for crowd control or emergency egress and B) mean increasing the walking distance to the station, and even though the distance to the platform wouldn't change, people would feel like their trip is shorter if the distance between their front door and the place where they actually pay their fare is minimized. There is a C option, but having stairs do switchbacks is bad for circulation and requires so many escalators that the TTC budget would need to double due to repairmen. Of course, this only applies to very deep stations...but since the powers that be insist that everything be tunnelled, we're going to keep running into these problems. A shallow/trenched/at-grade/elevated station doesn't need to excavate out another 100m of cavern to fit stairs. That doesn't mean they don't build these tunnels, anyway, though.
We've been over this before. Most of Leslie station isn't underground. From Sheppard you have to walk UP to the Mezzanine level; let alone the bus platform on the level above that. In some other cities they wouldn't dream of building separate exits from the same single platform station that don't connect to each other without having through the platform level.
We've been over this and you're wrong. That entrance hut is also not a mezzanine and it doesn't sit on flat ground, so unless you want a sloping floor, you need some stairs somewhere. You must walk up to the southern entrance hut of York Mills station, too. That doesn't mean York Mills isn't underground.
I find the tunnel complaints interesting because a few years ago this board was all about how great MTR was for having a 6 to 8 exits/entrances for each station, how great the large tall ceilings were, etc.
Frankly, I think the new stations are pretty much perfect. They piss off the people who want to save their pennies and they piss of the people who want a grand station; compromise is only successful when everybody is unhappy.
With Leslie, you currently have 3 entrances on the same corner of Leslie & Sheppard, and a fourth will be built on the same corner when the Canadian Tire HQ is built. We want multiple entrances at each station, but not long tunnels to serve the same place. Spread the entrances around. Overbuild like Downsview, don't overbuild like Leslie. There's a difference, and the latter is a waste of money. Why take a nearly 100m tunnel all the way to Leslie and then not cross the street?
Tall ceilings are better than short ceilings, particularly when it means not filling the station back in with useless mezzanines, but why didn't the stubway cross the Don on a bridge instead of a raised tunnel? It's not like the bus terminal, the light wells, the substation, etc., are prepped for redevelopment or that the intersection is lined with stores and homes. The sky is a taller ceiling. Having transit run only in tunnels diminishes the riding experience...imagine the other lines without their outdoor segments, even - especially - the brief flashes.