Jane-Finch to Sheppard West subway questioned

Jane-Finch to Sheppard West subway questioned. Concern over industrial traffic in residential areas has led York West councillor Anthony Perruzza to suggest eliminating a proposed road connecting the Jane-Finch neighbourhood to the new Sheppard West GO/TTC station in Downsview. Image/CITY OF TORONTO

"There is a plan within the Downsview Park secondary plan (update) to have Grandravine Drive be a continuous road across Keele Street to Sheppard (Road)," explained Ward 8 Councillor Anthony Peruzza. "I have been working to ensure that doesn't happen."

Grandravine, the only road between Sheppard and Finch Avenue that crosses the Black Creek, currently terminates at Keele. However, a proposed update to Toronto's 1999 Downsview Area Secondary Plan would see the street extended eastward through an empty field owned by Parc Downsview Park and then beyond Sheppard to meet the new TTC/GO train station, which is scheduled to come into service in 2015. The Grandravine extension, which has not officially been named, would then continue east across GO's existing rail corridor and terminate at a southward extension of Chesswood Drive.

While the city's proposed extension of Grandravine includes bike lanes and would presumably allow TTC buses a more direct route to the Sheppard West subway station, Peruzza fears it would also allow trucks from the Downsview employment areas to start passing through the residential areas west of Keele.

"You'll get industrial traffic seeking to access Hwy. 400," Peruzza said.

Earlier this summer, North York Community Council backed a motion by Peruzza for staff to come up with a revised plan that would allow traffic to move through Downsview but without allowing a "continuous traffic flow" along Grandravine across Keele in either direction. Staff said they expect to report back to the community council in early 2011.

While the city has not considered the idea, Peruzza said he would entertain the idea of the Grandravine extension becoming a busway or trail that doesn't allow automobile traffic.

Along with the Grandravine extension, the proposed update to the Downsview secondary plan envisions the creation of five other major roads and seven minor streets cutting through the 530-hectare study area surrounding the airport lands. The street network is required to accomodate the proposed 19,500 residents and 22,500 workers in the redeveloped area, roughly bounded by Keele, Sheppard, Wilson Heights Bouelevard and Wilson Avenue, according to a city report.

The Grandravine extension is not the only controversial road proposal. A local group, www.saveourramps.com, is opposed to the proposed elimination of Allen Road and Wilson Heights ramps. Their removal is part of a proposal to create a new north-south road serving a community in the triangle bounded by the Allen to the west and south, Sheppard to the north and Wilson Heights to the east. In June, community council backed a motion by Ward 9 Councillor Maria Augimeri directing staff to report back on possibly deleting the southern portion of that new north-south road in order to maintain the direct connection between Wilson Heights and Allen.

Other major roads proposed in the secondary plan update include:

- A southward extension of Chesswood Drive running along the east side of the airport runway and connecting to a northward extension of Transit Road. The new arterial would connect Sheppard and Wilson.

- A northward extension of Beffort Road, technically to be an extension of Dufferin Street, running along the west side of the airport runway and terminating at the Grandravine extension.

- An extension of Whitburn Crescent, as yet unnamed, running east of Keele across GO's rail line and terminating at the Dufferin extension. The road would act as a perimeter road along the south end of Parc Downsview Park.

- A new road skirting the west side of Mount Sinai cemetery, connecting Wilson with the extension of Whitburn.