Category: Stations

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Rapidways Stations Urban Planning

Finding your way from here to there

vivaNext - rapid transit this wayFor those of you who enjoy video or computer games (or for those who are of “a certain age” but have kids who like gaming), you may be familiar with the variety of games that involve being lost in a maze…you know the ones. You need to figure out where you are and how to get to the end (complete the level!), before something bad happens or the clock runs out. Being lost in a confusing maze can be fun when it’s a game and you’re in a virtual world.

In the real world however, feeling confused and trying to figure out which way to go in a public space, whether you’re in a shopping mall, an airport, or a transit station, is a lot less fun. At the very least, you may waste a lot of time and effort. At the worst, you may miss your connection. Helping people to navigate easily around public spaces, and in a transit environment in particular, is a specialized form of urban design called wayfinding; it’s something we take very seriously in our planning for vivaNext projects.

Our wayfinding design work began quite some time ago, as part of the overall design work for the vivaNext rapidway stations. We have a diverse range of Viva riders – people of all ages, abilities and languages – so vivaNext wayfinding needs to go well beyond simple signage. Wayfinding systems can use a number of elements, from architectural space to maps to signage to graphics, to help people figure out how to get where they want to go, in a safe way. As we design our rapidway stations and station intersections, including the cross-walks and platform layout, we always consider how people will use the stations. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to know which station they’re at, where to buy tickets, and which platform they need to be on.

One of the best parts of the vivaNext plan is the impact our stations will have on making local neighbourhoods even more attractive, providing landscaped and welcoming public spaces. Wayfinding will play a role in linking the rapidway stations with their surroundings. Our design team is working on strategies to ensure each station provides information about local destinations and connections.

So if you’re looking for the thrill of being lost, you’ll have to stick to gaming. Our design work isn’t complete, but from what I’ve already seen, getting around on Viva via the rapidways will always be safe, easy and convenient.

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Rapidways Stations Urban Planning

Designing a rapidway

Designing a rapidway

Earlier this year, I wrote a series of blogs about planning for growth, discussing York Region’s long envisioned goal of a true rapid transit system. The system would have to connect regional centres and move the expanding population around quickly, without increasing car traffic. The plans for this rapid transit system have been in the works for several years, and given our population, we know that bus rapid transit (BRT) offers the right technology at this time.

But how did we get from knowing we wanted to have a BRT system, to the actual design of the rapidways?

The first design considerations went back to our basic goals for a rapid transit system: to move a lot of people around efficiently, and to not add to gridlock on the roads (in fact, to reduce gridlock). The easiest and fastest way to create rapidways on existing roads would have been to convert the curb lanes, replacing two lanes of traffic. While this option would have met our first goal of moving people around quickly, it would have also decreased existing road capacity – which would defeat our second goal of not adding to gridlock. This meant that we would have to add lanes to include the rapidways.

Once we knew that, the next design consideration was where to put those new rapidway lanes. Again, we referred back to our first goal: to move a lot of people around quickly. The basic benefit of rapid transit is that it provides a consistent, reliable way of getting from point A to point B. Riders know how often the vehicle will arrive, how long the trip will take, and they know they can count on it, no matter how heavy the traffic. So what are the design considerations to ensure a consistent, reliable ride?

One key design requirement is to provide level boarding, meaning that passengers don’t have to climb up or down steps onto the vehicle; for example, subways have level boarding. With level (or close to level) boarding, people have better access, regardless of their level of mobility or whether they are pushing a baby carriage. Level boarding allows more people to get on and off quickly and results in shorter dwell time, which means vehicles spend less time at stations. In short – level boarding helps make the service faster, which in turn helps vehicles keep to a schedule, and provide a consistently reliable, frequent service. These improvements make transit more appealing to more people – which meets our first goal.

But to provide level boarding, the platforms have to be close to bus floor height – which is about a foot off the ground (most sidewalks are closer to 6″ high). To provide higher platforms, our stations needed to be separated from sidewalks. Theoretically, we could have built higher platforms on the edges of sidewalks, but there are reasons why this isn’t ideal: our stations would take up too much of the sidewalk, which could interfere with local businesses. Therefore, the best place for our stations would be to have them physically separated from the sidewalk. In our case, this meant locating stations in the middle of the road. The benefit of having the stations in the median, is that passengers won’t have to walk all the way across the road to get to a station – they can meet us half-way.

But by adding the rapidways down the middle of the road, we then needed to widen the roads to accommodate both the rapidways as well as the existing traffic lanes. All of which takes us to our final design, which is have our rapidways running along the median, with median stations, and special left turn and u-turn lanes at intersections to allow drivers to safely and easily turn across the rapidways.

Of course, going this route has required more steps, including acquiring the land needed to widen the roads. But the end result is going to be a rapid transit system that meets our goals of providing fast, consistent transit, without adding to existing traffic congestion. And that’s a design solution that we can all be really proud of.

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Rapidways Stations

first new vivastation is coming together!

Metal framework being raised into place at one of our new vivastation platforms
Metal framework being raised into place at one of our new vivastation platforms

The first vivastation designed for our new system of rapidways is becoming a reality. The arched metal framework for our new vivastation platforms at the intersection of Warden Avenue and Enterprise Drive has now been raised into place, and glass canopies will be added over the next few weeks.

This vivastation will be put into service next year, replacing the current Viva shelters at this location. Passengers using Warden Station can look forward to a new level of comfort next winter, with an enclosed, heated, and LED-lit section and an arched glass roof to shelter them as they get on and off our vehicles.

The new vivastation is located at the western gateway to Markham Centre, where a vibrant mix of activities will be available on the streets and squares where people live, work, shop and play. The first phases of residential construction are already underway.

I look forward to seeing the new station in service, and if you use this station, I hope you’ll let us know what you think.

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Announcements Rapidways Stations Subways

Dale’s summer update

Dale's Summer Update

Whew! What a busy few months we’ve had here at the vivaNext headquarters!  No doubt a lot of people have been enjoying this great summer weather and taking a bit of a break… but for those of us here, it’s been full steam ahead.  Since we announced the news this past May that Metrolinx approved a revised capital funding schedule for the vivaNext rapidways, our office has been a hive of activity! Okay, I took a week off as well to enjoy this summer weather.

But here’s an exclusive peek behind the scenes of what’s happening with vivaNext projects.

Although it’s not a typical rapidway station, our new stop currently under construction at Enterprise and Warden in Markham will be the first place you’ll be able to try out our new, comfortably designed vivastation.  The concrete foundations are currently being put in for the station, and sometime in early fall we expect to receive the glass canopy from the fabricators.  After all the work that went into designing it, we can’t wait to see the vivastation in person!  We’ll keep you updated on the delivery dates and let you know more about how you can see it too!

Our crews are out and about along Davis Drive in Newmarket, with most work presently focused on pre-construction activities in preparation for the road widening.  We’ve been taking down some existing buildings, and working closely with Habitat for Humanity York Region and other organizations to ensure that every last piece of building material that can be reused or recycled is diverted from landfill.  At least 85% of materials will be diverted – we are really proud of that. Even shrubs, plants and trees have been transplanted to new locations within Newmarket, including some churches and a public school.

Our engineers, architects and other experts are working hard on the preliminary engineering for the rapidways up Yonge Street and along Highway 7. Preliminary engineering is the early design stage of an infrastructure project, and it involves numerous hours of discussion and planning for options on things you may never think about when you drive down a street; things like median width, lightpole design and surface treatments.  Every step of their work is carried out in conjunction with a number of other partners, including The Regional Municipality of York and each of the municipalities, as well as other local groups. The amount of painstaking, detailed work that goes into designing a rapidway is just incredible – in a separate blog, I’ll tell you more about the processes, the challenges and introduce you to some of our experts.

We are also spending a lot of time working with our colleagues at the TTC on plans to connect the Spadina Subway extension to the vivaNext transit hub at Highway 7 in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.  Construction of a six-lane bridge, access roads, traffic signals, utility relocation and the realignment of a portion of Black Creek is now underway so that construction can start on the Highway 407 Station. This work is anticipated to be complete by spring 2011. Public open houses in July showcased the station design finishes and public artwork for the Sheppard West and Highway 407 Stations. More open houses will soon be held, so that the public can view the four remaining station designs. I hope to tell you more exciting details about the design ideas we’re working on in the near future.

Another key task that represents a huge amount of our efforts is the ongoing Environmental Assessment process – and rightly so: ensuring that our projects don’t negatively affect the environment, either natural or human, is a critical priority for this project.  Each rapidway segment has its own process and requirements – in fact, there’s so much to describe, I’m going to save it for another time!

During the summer we also participated in some fundraising events for United Way, attended several community events and participated in some local industry workshops.

So that was a brief summary of what we’ve been up to! We hope you’re enjoying the summer sunshine, and all of the great things there are to do in York Region!

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Announcements Stations Subways

View the final designs for two Spadina Subway stations!

spadina-stations-final-designs_2010_07_06

On Thursday, July 8, and Tuesday, July 13, 2010, you are invited to view the final designs of two stations along the Spadina Subway extension: Sheppard West Station and Highway 407 Station.

The Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension project will extend 8.6 kilometres north from Toronto’s Downsview Station to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at Highway 7. The project will better connect people to their destinations of choice, and will help Vaughan fulfill its vision for future growth and development.

We encourage you to attend these two public open houses and share the excitement as rapid transit plans move forward in York Region.

Sheppard West Station Public Open House

Date: Thursday, July 8, 2010
Time: 4 – 7:30pm
Location: TTC Downsview Station – Bus Terminal Platform
At the intersection of Allen Road and Sheppard Avenue West
Access to Bus Terminal Platform through “Passenger Pick up and Drop off”

Highway 407 Station Public Open House

Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Time: 6:30 – 8:30pm
Location: The Hilton Garden Inn – Toscana Centre
3201 Highway 7, Vaughan
Take Transit: From Downsview Station take Viva Orange 077/077A or Viva Orange 107 to arrive at the doorstep of the Hilton Garden Inn, at the intersection of Highway 7 and Edgeley/Interchange Way.

Categories
Announcements Stations Subways

Come see three Spadina Subway station designs at once!

A map of the Spadina subway extension.

Extending from Downsview Station in Toronto to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at Highway 7 in Vaughan, the Spadina subway extension will cover a total of 8.6 kilometres and include six new stations.

To date, three separate public open houses have been held to share the preliminary station design concepts with the community: Sheppard West Station on November 17, 2009, York University Station on December 3, 2009, and the Steeles West Station on February 3, 2010.

If you happened to miss the February public open house, you now have another opportunity to check out the preliminary design concept for the Steeles West Station, and be among the first to review the preliminary design concepts for the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and the Highway 407 Stations. All three will be on display together at a public open house on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

The preliminary design concept for the remaining new station – Finch West Station – will be presented to the public later this spring. Also, more open houses will be held later this year to share more detailed architectural concepts for all six stations so stay tuned.

Public Open House for Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, Highway 407 and Steeles West Subway Stations

Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Location: The Hilton Garden Inn, Toscana Centre
3201 Highway 7, Vaughan, ON
Categories
Announcements Stations Subways

Station designs for Spadina Subway extension continue to take shape!

An aerial view of the Steeles West Station design
An aerial view of the Steeles West Station design

In the fall of 2009, preliminary station designs were unveiled at public open houses for two of the six stations that will be located along vivaNext’s 8.6 kilometre Spadina subway extension, which will extend from Downsview Station in Toronto to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station in Vaughan.

Next week, on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, the preliminary design for a third station – Steeles West – will also be unveiled at a public open house and you are invited to attend.

As previously mentioned on this blog, all of the six stations that will be built along the Spadina subway extension will have a unique design. The most striking features of the Steeles West station preliminary design are its very distinctive and futuristic profile, and its central light cone, which allows daylight to reach all the way down to the platform levels. It’s truly something you have to see for yourself to appreciate.

Following this public open house, a second one featuring more detailed architectural concepts will take place for the Steeles West station in the spring of 2010. Preliminary designs for the remaining Spadina subway extension stations – Finch West, Highway 407 and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre – will also be unveiled in the coming months.

Steeles West Subway Station Public Open House
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Black Creek Pioneer Village,  Garfield Weston Room
1000 Murray Ross Parkway, Toronto, ON

Categories
Announcements Press Stations Subways

The Spadina subway extension moves forward!

From left: Vaughan Mayor Linda Jackson, Ontario Minister of Transportation Jim Bradley, Toronto Mayor David Miller, Federal Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty and TTC Chair Adam Giambrone begin the work on the Spadina subway extension.
From left: Vaughan Mayor Linda Jackson, Ontario Transportation Jim Bradley, Toronto Mayor David Miller, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and TTC Chair Adam Giambrone begin work on the Spadina subway extension Friday.

This past Friday, November 27, 2009, a groundbreaking ceremony of a link that will connect the future Spadina subway extension mainline to the existing Wilson Subway Yard and expand yard storage facilities was held.

Government dignitaries in attendance at the Wilson Yard connection site included the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Canada’s Minister of Finance; the Honourable Jim Bradley, Ontario Transportation Minister; His Worship David Miller, Mayor of Toronto; Her Worship Linda Jackson, Mayor of Vaughan; and Toronto Transit Commission chair Adam Giambrone.

“This is another significant step forward that will help meet the Greater Toronto Area’s future network needs,” said York Region Chairman and CEO Bill Fisch. “As York Region continues to grow and mature, it is imperative to have the proper infrastructure and resources in place for both residents and businesses today and in the future.”

Extending from the Downsview Station in Toronto to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station in Vaughan, the Spadina subway extension will cover a total of 8.6 kilometres and include six stations. Every day, almost as many people travel north to York Region from Toronto as vice versa — including many of the 50,000 students and staff who study and work at York University.

The completion date for the Spadina subway extension is 2015. The $2.6 billion funding required for the project has been secured from all levels of government including $697 million from the Government of Canada, $870 million from the Province of Ontario, $352 million from York Region and $526 million from the City of Toronto.

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Going Green Stations Subways

There is light at the end of the Steeles West subway tunnel!

An artist rendering of the Steeles West subway station.
An artist rendering of the Steeles West subway station.

Each of the six subway stations that will be built along the Spadina subway extension – a key part of the vivaNext plan – will have a unique design.

Above ground, the most striking feature of the Steeles West Station conceptual design is its very distinctive and futuristic profile. It looks like something right out of ‘The Jetsons’. Below ground, a central light cone will bring daylight all the way down to the platform levels – a solution that’s both illuminating and eco-friendly.

The Steeles West subway station will also feature a commuter parking lot with 1,900 parking spaces plus two bus terminals, including one for YRT and Viva.

Planned service frequency from Downsview Station to Steeles West Station is every two minutes, and from Steeles West Station to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station, every five minutes.

Categories
Stations Subways

Check out the preliminary design of the new Sheppard West subway station!

A key part of York Region’s vivaNext plan is the Spadina subway extension. Extending from Downsview Station in Toronto to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station in Vaughan, it will cover a total of 8.6 kilometres and include six stations.

This Tuesday, November 17, 2009, you are invited to attend a Public Open House to view the preliminary design concept for one of these stations – Sheppard West Station. It is the first of two public open houses for Sheppard West Station. The second one, scheduled for Spring 2010, will show detailed architectural concepts.

Sheppard West Subway Station Public Open House
Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Location: The Crystal Room (2nd Floor)
Montecassino Hotel & Event Venue
3710 Chesswood Drive, Toronto