Toronto Spadina Subway Extension Emergency Exits | ?m | 1s | TTC | IBI Group

salsa said:
Not true. This was debunked about a year ago in this thread. And according to your very same source:

"Correction: According to TTC spokesperson Brad Ross, the original station design stands despite the updated renderings from Will Alsop's architecture firm."
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Great, thanks for the clarification.
 
nfitz said:
Is that a good thing? I'll use that one if I can, because you can get out of it quickly. On the east side, I use the one for Dundas Square instead of in the building in the NW corner (whatever it's called this week) because it's quicker to get out of.

If I'm catching a 506 eastbound from College station, I typically come out the stairs at the SE corner because it's faster than the longer walk out of College Park.
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At rush (which is increasingly all day), chances are you won't be that quick trying to get out of the station using the NE streetside exit on Dundas with the empteen riders disembarking at the same station as you are. Worse if you have to deal with riders heading down into the station because lord knows you'd be reduced to a single file.

AoD
 
gweed123 said:
I preferred the old one on the NE corner of Dundas & Yonge to the maze you have to go through now to make that same trip. IMO, the entrance on the SE corner of Carlton & Yonge is how it should be. Built into the adjacent structure, but still easy to access from street level, without having to walk through a mall (and freakishly narrow escalators) to get there. SW corner of Queen & Yonge would be another example.
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The SW corner of Dundas and University (Air Miles Tower) has a no-nonsense entrance to the subway, as does Hydro Place at Queen's Park. Same with the NW corner at King Station. Yeah, I strongly dislike the walk through 10 Dundas East to get to the subway.

The best Dundas Station entrance is on the SE side, into the Square. It's wide and simple.
 
nfitz said:
Is that a good thing? I'll use that one if I can, because you can get out of it quickly. On the east side, I use the one for Dundas Square instead of in the building in the NW corner (whatever it's called this week) because it's quicker to get out of.
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Yes it's a good thing because the entrance is too narrow and takes up way too much sidewalk space, as AoD was saying. However the other entrance at Dundas Square is great because it doesn't have any of those problems while still being quick and easy to use. I like that one a lot.
 
salsa said:
Yes it's a good thing because the entrance is too narrow and takes up way too much sidewalk space, as AoD was saying. However the other entrance at Dundas Square is great because it doesn't have any of those problems while still being quick and easy to use. I like that one a lot.
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Slight quibbles about that entrance - the rise/run of the steps are slightly off to make for a slightly uncomfortable walk down. That, and it would have been more useful if the entrance actually faces towards the intersection instead of away from it.

AoD
 
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ShonTron said:
The SW corner of Dundas and University (Air Miles Tower) has a no-nonsense entrance to the subway, as does Hydro Place at Queen's Park. Same with the NW corner at King Station. Yeah, I strongly dislike the walk through 10 Dundas East to get to the subway.

The best Dundas Station entrance is on the SE side, into the Square. It's wide and simple.
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All good examples as well. I really wish the TTC would have some kind of criteria for how to integrate entrances into new developments. I'm fine with developments putting in alterative access points to the subway directly from their building (Eaton Centre at Queen & Yonge comes to mind, or the RBC Centre from Union), but the primary focus should always be on a convenient and direct route for people coming from and going to the street. None of this "down the stairs, around the corner, through the doors, down a set of stairs, through another set of doors, and then take a left" nonsense.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
At rush (which is increasingly all day), chances are you won't be that quick trying to get out of the station using the NE streetside exit on Dundas with the empteen riders disembarking at the same station as you are. Worse if you have to deal with riders heading down into the station because lord knows you'd be reduced to a single file.
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I've done it at rush. It doesn't back up really. Sure, sometimes you are fighting against people coming down ... but you simply stand on the right, and as you walk up, they step around you. Still faster than coming out the Toronto Life building - or whatever it's called now - especially when they all stand still on that extra-narrow escalator.
 
nfitz said:
I've done it at rush. It doesn't back up really. Sure, sometimes you are fighting against people coming down ... but you simply stand on the right, and as you walk up, they step around you. Still faster than coming out the Toronto Life building - or whatever it's called now - especially when they all stand still on that extra-narrow escalator.
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The determinant for exit use in that case is likely whether you are on a northbound or southbound train. I will find it hard to believe that coming off a northbound train at Dundas one would purposefully go underneath the station to head to the concourse on the other side in order to exit the station at the NE corner, vice versa.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
The determinant for exit use in that case is likely whether you are on a northbound or southbound train. I will find it hard to believe that coming off a northbound train at Dundas one would purposefully go underneath the station to head to the concourse on the other side in order to exit the station at the NE corner, vice versa.
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I don't think one would. I noted that if I came off the east side (northbound) I exit at Dundas Square instead of the Toronto Life building. Toronto Life (or whatever they call it now) is on the NE corner. Dundas Square is on the SE corner.

The worst stairs for crowding is the NW corner - but going to direct outside, it's still favourable over trying to go out into the Eaton Centre ... so if heading southbound to the 505, I'd use the stairs, and walk across the street. (though it's not a direction I usually transfer ... but I have done that to get to the sausage stand on the south side from a southbound train!).
 
nfitz said:
I don't think one would. I noted that if I came off the east side (northbound) I exit at Dundas Square instead of the Toronto Life building. Toronto Life (or whatever they call it now) is on the NE corner. Dundas Square is on the SE corner.

The worst stairs for crowding is the NW corner - but going to direct outside, it's still favourable over trying to go out into the Eaton Centre ... so if heading southbound to the 505, I'd use the stairs, and walk across the street. (though it's not a direction I usually transfer ... but I have done that to get to the sausage stand on the south side from a southbound train!).
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It's called "10 Dundas East." What an odd name. The escalators are too narrow and the doors to the doors are too heavy. It's much faster to cross the road and enter at the SE side.
 
The entrances in the sidewalks may take up valuable room and be narrow, but they're the quickest (partly because there are rarely any doors involved), slickest, cheapest and most straight forward way to get people into the station. They're also easy to see from very far away because the signage is in the middle of the sidewalk. Entrances that are inside buildings are best seen from the other side of the street whereas sidewalk entrances are easily seen from any angle. The sidewalk staircases also provide an opportunity to increase branding recognition. The lamps at NYC stairs, the big arch in Paris with the extended form "Metropolitan" and the 3D London Underground signs are all iconic.. at least to me. I would love to have something half as cool as that in our city. Right now all 4 corners of Queen and University have different TTC signs to mark their entrances. Brad Ross has said on twitter that it's a test to see which one is better but it's been like that for years already!

TJ O'Pootertoot said:
In fairness, even Paris only has a few that look like that. But they sure are nice.
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According to wikipedia there are still 87 of them actually!
 
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Our downtown stations could use some TLC. They need more entrances and wider platforms. I would hope that if we ever build the RL it would have a wide platform with lots of room to support growth and to avoid the compact and sometimes dangerous platforms we have during rush hour. Take Dundas at rush hour, the northbound platform in afternoon can be absolutely packed!
 
Earlier in the thread quite a few people were ripping Vaughan for building a library at Keele + Major Mac instead of at the VMC.

Well it turns out they will be building a library in the VMC anyways, beside the KPMG building. The building will also house a YMCA and have office space. The plan is to open in 2019.

More info at these links:

http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/6342038-vaughan-to-get-ymca-at-jane-and-7-bevilacqua/

https://www.vaughan.ca/council/minutes_agendas/AgendaItems/CW(WS)0209_16_3.pdf

https://www.vaughan.ca/council/minutes_agendas/AgendaItems/CW(WS)0617_15_1.pdf
 
Their central library is in Maple too. There will be a branch in VMC, but ultimately their city hall and central branch aren't.
 
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