The Sheppard East LRT was a planned light rail line that was cancelled during construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as part of the scrapped Transit City proposal announced March 16, 2007. It was to be operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. Metrolinx had budgeted $944.5 million from 2009 through 2014 for the design and construction of the line.[1] Funding was approved by the provincial and federal governments in May 2009.[2] That funding will now go to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, with Mayor Rob Ford counting on private investment to finance a new $4 billion extension of the Sheppard line.[3] Detailed engineering had also been initiated for the grade separation of Sheppard Avenue East and the GO Transit tracks east of Kennedy Road. Construction for the line began on 21 December 2009 at Agincourt GO Station.[4] The line was expected to open on September 11, 2013, the first of the seven Transit City lines to be completed. The line was cancelled and construction halted by Mayor Rob Ford in April 2011.
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The Sheppard East LRT line was to run for 13.6 km, estimated to account for 17 million trips in 2021. The western terminus of the line was to be built at Don Mills Station at Don Mills Road in North York. The line was to run along Sheppard Avenue East, where the planned Sheppard East subway extension is to be built. The line was to continue east until it terminated at Meadowvale Road in Scarborough. A future extension east into Durham Region was under consideration.
For passengers travelling between North York and Scarborough city centres, a transfer between the Sheppard subway and the Sheppard East LRT at Don Mills station would have been required. A transfer would also have been required between the Sheppard East LRT line and the proposed extension of the Scarborough RT[5] to meet the LRT line at Sheppard Avenue and Markham Road.
http://www3.ttc.ca/PDF/About_the_TTC/Transit_City/sheppard_lrt_stops_stations_diagram.pdf
These proposed segments were not part of Transit City.
This proposal was extend the Sheppard East LRT north to Finch Avenue East from its western terminus at Don Mills Station, overlapping the Don Mills LRT to Finch Avenue East, then west on Finch Avenue East to Finch Station, where it would continue along Finch Avenue West as the Etobicoke-Finch West LRT line. This connection has been proposed to provide one seamless crosstown line across northern Toronto.
This proposal would have extended the Sheppard East LRT east into Durham Region from the planned eastern terminus at Meadowvale Road. This extension would have taken the Sheppard East LRT from Meadowvale Road east to cross the Toronto/Durham Region border and continue to an undisclosed location within Durham Region.
The TTC investigated several options for the transfer at or near Don Mills Road with the existing Sheppard Subway. The main obstacle is Highway 404 which the LRT may have tunnelled under, and the fact that the subway is located 18m below grade.
Option 3 – LRT Underground to Subway Platform Level at Don Mills
Subway platform extended to east, LRT tracks on either side, level transfer
Pros:
1. For customers east of Victoria Park and destined to subway, just as good as Option 5 (below)
2. Lower cost
3. Tunnel construction would be designed to allow for future subway extension
Cons:
1. Separation between subway and LRT still under policy discussion; separation between vehicles could be 100–125 metres
Option 5 – Shallow Subway Extension to Consumers Road with Surface LRT Connection
LRT station in the middle of Sheppard Avenue (east of Consumers Road), direct passageways to subway below
Pros:
1. Avoids need for travellers from business park to travel one stop, then transfer to subway as per Option 3 (above)
2. Given the above, much more effective “catalyst” for more dense, transit-oriented development in this development node
Cons:
1. Much higher cost
2. More detailed design necessary to determine if “shallow” subway achievable – more work required on depth needed to avoid settlement near Highway 404 bridge and to avoid large, six metre deep sanitary sewer near Consumers Road
The TTC decided on option 3.
The Sheppard East LRT was to be constructed in two phases.
Phase One would have run along Sheppard Avenue East from Don Mills Road to Morningside Avenue.
Phase Two was to have run along Sheppard Avenue East from Morningside Avenue to Meadowvale Road.
In April 2011, Mayor Rob Ford and the province of Ontario announced a transit plan that included the subway extensions and cancelled the Sheppard East LRT. Despite the inclusion of the extensions, no public funding was allocated for construction and work on the LRT must be abandoned at significant cost.[6] Instead, Mayor Rob Ford will look at private financing of the new subway lines, which will provide luxury service to a low-density area. No specific plans for raising over $4 billion in funding have been announced,[7] and Gordon Chong, head of the TTC agency tasked with analyzing the new subway plans, has said it is possible that no new transit development will occur along Sheppard.[8]
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