Platforms centre platform Parking 641 spaces Opened 30 March 1996 Phone +1 416-393-4636 Tracks 2 | Structure type underground Disabled access Yes Province Ontario Platform Island platform | |
 | ||
Location 1035 Sheppard Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada Connections TTC buses
84 Sheppard West
101 Downsview Park
104 Faywood
105 Dufferin North
106 York University
107 Keele North
108 Downsview
117 Alness
196 Yonge University Rocket
329 Dufferin
384 Sheppard West
Orange Address 1035 Sheppard Ave W, North York, ON M3H 2M5, Canada Similar Spadina, Finch, St George, Wilson, Eglinton West | ||
Downsview is a subway station on the Yonge–University line in Toronto, Ontario, 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. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.
Contents
- Name
- Architecture and art
- Subway infrastructure in the vicinity
- Nearby landmarks
- Surface connections
- Viva bus rapid transit
- Subway extensions
- References
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.
Name
Downsview station will be renamed "Sheppard West" once the Spadina extension opens. The new name was proposed in 2010 and on September 28, 2012, the renaming was approved. It will be renamed to avoid confusion with Downsview Park station, which at one time was also planned 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). 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
TTC routes serving the station include:
Viva bus rapid transit
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, but it is now estimated that 31 December 2017 would be the earliest achievable date to deliver the project.
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.
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 taking office in December 2010, Toronto mayor Rob Ford indicated that completing the Sheppard line to its original route was to be his top transit priority.