[TOareaFan]

At the same time, it is hard to imagine a city centre subway station that hosts 18-bay bus terminal and a passenger pickup area (yorkregion.com):

... While TTC will operate the subway, York Region will run the 18-bay bus terminal above ground for which plans are still being finalized.

The station includes a passenger pick up and drop off area as well as connections to Viva and YRT routes. ...

It will be more like Finch station rather than North York Centre station...

My first reaction was York Mills.....but I could be way off.

 

[waterloowarrior]

TTC station to bring ‘Europe' to Vaughan
Proposed terminal designed to be gateway to revitalized, re-imagined city core
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...on-to-bring-europe-to-vaughan/article1401904/

Toronto — From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Published on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009 11:27PM EST
Last updated on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009 3:25AM EST

It's a transit junkie's field of dreams – a subway station designed to serve a dense, vibrant urban centre that doesn't yet exist.

The conceptual design for the Vaughan station, the approval for which the Toronto Transit Commission is set to vote on today, looks extremely out of place.

And that's the idea.

Right now, the area destined for the Vaughan Corporate Centre Station is a flat, low-density haven for big-box stores – an urban planner's sprawling nightmare. The $177-million station, designed by Grimshaw architects – also known for the new terminal at Heathrow Airport and New York City's Fulton Street Transit Centre – features a glass-ceilinged “X†where the building's four entrances converge. It's meant to let in natural light, make the station easily navigable, less of a target for crime and to create a distinctive architectural footprint. The TTC is working with Toronto artist Paul Raff to include public art around the station.

And it's meant to be the gateway to Vaughan's revisioned, high-density urban core – a catalyst of “transit-oriented development†vaunted as the utopian solution to urban sprawl.

“European†is the word Vaughan Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco uses.

“[Commuters] can come out of the subway, they can go and get their groceries, they can go to work, to their homes, or they can do whatever,†she said. “It's a very pedestrian-oriented type of downtown. Very European: Bicycle paths, walking trails, that kind of thing.â€

She wants to see a metropolitan centre mixing residences, green space and businesses that would take advantage of the “knock-out†panels in the station's design that would allow it to meld seamlessly into future store fronts.

The station is still in the nascent stages, its designers emphasize – so early, artists' renderings are hard to come by and the project's New York-based architects can't talk about it.

But the ambitious design, meant to create “a beautiful building in a landscaped space around which the city will grow,†is an essential antecedent to urban revitalization, says TTC architect David Lawson.

“It sounds cliché, but a world-class city has to pre-build the infrastructure as it grows, because it's very difficult and very expensive to build this structure after the city is in place. In some cases, it's impossible.â€

Urban planners have sworn by the concept of developing urban centres around transit nodes for years, says Ryerson University urban planning professor David Amborski. But the city's latest, ambitious transit expansion is the region's first real shot at making it work.

In a presentation last month, organized by the Canadian Urban Institute, Berkeley professor Robert Cervero gave a presentation on the way “transit-first†planning policies can drastically alter a city's feel and function.

“You need to make an appropriate number of users to make the transit system run effectively,†Prof. Amborski said. “Yu need to have the ability to entice people to get out of their cars.â€

 

[Justin10000]

There is a public open house for the final design of VCC Station this Wednesday(Oct 27) in Vaughn:

http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Pr...tension/Public_Open_Houses/VCC_Open_House.jsp

Easy to get there by transit too.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Vaughan Centre Station Open House Presentation Boards:
http://www3.ttc.ca/PDF/About_the_TTC/TYSSE/VMC_Station Images.pdf

AoD

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Vaughan Centre Station Open House Presentation Boards:
http://www3.ttc.ca/PDF/About_the_TTC/TYSSE/VMC_Station Images.pdf

AoD

Wow! Quite a bit of detail, I noticed a few things with VMC station.

1) I see that the Westbound Viva route will stop farside from the intersection. We all know that is not ideal and I wonder how much more it would have cost to build a stopnear side and construct a separate set of stairs and passageway to the station (it's not a very far walk at all). In fact if most development in the area is going to, or is expected to, be connected to the station via underground tunnels than this might actually have been a better set up. I can't imagine the cost being prohibative.
2) I wonder why York is, planning on, leaving such a long swath of landscaped land along the North/South alignment of the line (almost paralleling the line. I realize that there is a need for some parkland around the station both for aestetic and practical reasons but then again it seems like some lost development potential.
3) I hope York is putting in the majority of the municipal funding for this station. It looks like a mini Chicago bean, but it could have been a simple station, not that it should be bland since it would be the focus of the area.

 

[strookie]

1) I see that the Westbound Viva route will stop farside from the intersection. We all know that is not ideal and I wonder how much more it would have cost to build a stopnear side and construct a separate set of stairs and passageway to the station (it's not a very far walk at all). In fact if most development in the area is going to, or is expected to, be connected to the station via underground tunnels than this might actually have been a better set up. I can't imagine the cost being prohibative.

Too bad you didn't make it to the open house, because the architect had a very nice model on display. This model included the YRT portion of the station that the TTC presentation boards mostly omitted.

Keep in mind that VIVA's plan is to have dedicated bus lanes through the centre of Highway 7. Therefore, as soon as the Spadina extension was confirmed, they started designing for an extremely large surface-level Vivastation that includes escalators and stairwells into a short underground passageway that brings you straight onto the subway station's concourse level.

Still, the TTC drawings show good hints of the Vivastation. Look carefully on page 5 of the PDF, in the upper left corner of the drawing. That area includes a pencil outline of a three-axle articulated VIVA bus going eastbound.

2) I wonder why York is, planning on, leaving such a long swath of landscaped land along the North/South alignment of the line (almost paralleling the line. I realize that there is a need for some parkland around the station both for aestetic and practical reasons but then again it seems like some lost development potential.

I've heard repeated several times at these open houses that Vaughan wanted that greenspace you're referring to to be an open public space as part of the personality of this new downtown core.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Too bad you didn't make it to the open house, because the architect had a very nice model on display. This model included the YRT portion of the station that the TTC presentation boards mostly omitted.

Keep in mind that VIVA's plan is to have dedicated bus lanes through the centre of Highway 7. Therefore, as soon as the Spadina extension was confirmed, they started designing for an extremely large surface-level Vivastation that includes escalators and stairwells into a short underground passageway that brings you straight onto the subway station's concourse level.

Still, the TTC drawings show good hints of the Vivastation. Look carefully on page 5 of the PDF, in the upper left corner of the drawing. That area includes a pencil outline of a three-axle articulated VIVA bus going eastbound.

I had planned to attend but unfortunately had things come up. I hope that the VIVA station is on both sides of the intersection rather than only on the West side as Westbound busses would have to wait for lights to turn before arriving at the station. We all know how well signal priority works around here. Unless the YRT boards showed a VIVAstation on both sides of the street, btw do you know if those boards are available online?

I've heard repeated several times at these open houses that Vaughan wanted that greenspace you're referring to to be an open public space as part of the personality of this new downtown core.

Ok, I see the need for that maybe 100 odd yards or so in each direction so that the station becomes a centrepiece and dramatic part of the centre. To me it just looks like it's much longer than that.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

I had planned to attend but unfortunately had things come up. I hope that the VIVA station is on both sides of the intersection rather than only on the West side as Westbound busses would have to wait for lights to turn before arriving at the station. We all know how well signal priority works around here. Unless the YRT boards showed a VIVAstation on both sides of the street, btw do you know if those boards are available online?

They looked at a few different ways of doing it but I'm pretty sure the final conclusion was, as said above, a median stop with an underground connect. There is, I believe, a YRT station that will also be built a block or two away but they were working on how to make it all as integrated as possible.

I found this article on the plan for the Viva station, which they only finalized a few months ago:

http://www.yorkregion.com/news/local/article/853147--more-cost-overrun-for-subway

Designing an underground tunnel to connect the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre subway terminus and a Viva/YRT bus terminal will cost $1.3 million, rather than the $500,000 originally earmarked.
Staff attribute the increase to the complexity of the subway plans and changes from earlier concepts.
Initial plans called for constructing a bus terminal somewhere north of the subway station, which will be located on Millway Avenue, just north of Hwy. 7.
Viva riders would have to cross the street and take stairs down to the subway.
Planners realized it wouldn’t be practical to have bus riders stuck in the middle of Hwy 7, especially with 1,000 riders moving between the lines at peak hours.
Viva’s on-street stations will be enlarged to accommodate stairs, elevators and escalators to get passengers underground more quickly and safely.

 

[strookie]

I had planned to attend but unfortunately had things come up. I hope that the VIVA station is on both sides of the intersection rather than only on the West side as Westbound busses would have to wait for lights to turn before arriving at the station. We all know how well signal priority works around here. Unless the YRT boards showed a VIVAstation on both sides of the street, btw do you know if those boards are available online?

Nope, both eastbound and westbound stations are on the west side of the intersection

At a Viva station open house meeting for the VMC the question was raised why both of them weren't located on the east side, in anticipation of integration also with the proposed Jane LRT (Transit City). Their response was that if the LRT were (ever) built, it would be more likely integrated with the YRT transit terminal (proposed for a field to the northeast of the station) rather than with the Vivastation. So I took a York Region planner aside to press him further and I got the answer that Viva had looked at that option carefully--as well as one station on either side of the intersection--but these options were not feasible because the general traffic lanes between Millway and Jane would have too sharp a bend (as the opposing lanes taper closer to each other approaching Jane), making the Jane intersection much less safe.

Also, constructing one station on either side would have made the underground portion more complex, increasing the cost. (You'd have to dig on both sides of the subway station box instead of one side.)

Here's the link to the presentation boards at that Viva meeting:

http://www.vivanext.com/875

and you want to go to the Highway 7 - Islington Ave - Creditstone Rd link to find the VMC Vivastation.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Nope, both eastbound and westbound stations are on the west side of the intersection

At a Viva station open house meeting for the VMC the question was raised why both of them weren't located on the east side, in anticipation of integration also with the proposed Jane LRT (Transit City). Their response was that if the LRT were (ever) built, it would be more likely integrated with the YRT transit terminal (proposed for a field to the northeast of the station) rather than with the Vivastation. So I took a York Region planner aside to press him further and I got the answer that Viva had looked at that option carefully--as well as one station on either side of the intersection--but these options were not feasible because the general traffic lanes between Millway and Jane would have too sharp a bend (as the opposing lanes taper closer to each other approaching Jane), making the Jane intersection much less safe.

Also, constructing one station on either side would have made the underground portion more complex, increasing the cost. (You'd have to dig on both sides of the subway station box instead of one side.)

Here's the link to the presentation boards at that Viva meeting:

http://www.vivanext.com/875

and you want to go to the Highway 7 - Islington Ave - Creditstone Rd link to find the VMC Vivastation.

Thanks for the link! I can see the argument that the road would bend sharply, though there really isn't anything on either side of hwy 7 (east of Jane) keeping them from widening it from further east (thus smoothing out the bend). Oh well planning vagaries.

Wrt to digging costs. They are building in knockouts to connect with future developments so I figured the cost would be minimal (1 extra elevator/escalator to get riders up down to the concourse level). Though I suppose the cost to build the underground connection to the subway station would be borne by the developer and not the transit agency/s.

If anywhere were justified in having a station stop on both sides of the intersection I think here would have been it, but oh well. The busway (Rapidway?) looks really good.

 

[lead82]

So is Viva planning to build stairs and elevators on a platform right in the middle of the road? That sounds pretty expensive thing to do. Why don't they just build a short tunnel and an underground terminal to the mezzanine level. They would not even need a loop in the tunnel just an underground stop with quick access into the subway station.

 

[strookie]

So is Viva planning to build stairs and elevators on a platform right in the middle of the road? That sounds pretty expensive thing to do. Why don't they just build a short tunnel and an underground terminal to the mezzanine level. They would not even need a loop in the tunnel just an underground stop with quick access into the subway station.

These new Vivastations are being designed with high curbs for at-level bus access and thus they will not permit transit riders to cross the buslanes to get to the other side. The Viva lanes are being designed for the possible long-term conversion to LRT or similar. So your idea won't work for eastbound riders getting off at the station--where would they walk? They can't go to platform level because they have to go through the fare checkpoint first. They can't go up because then they're at street level. Also, constructing retaining walls to separate grade levels between the street and the approaches to the tunnel entries is not cheap either.

 

[interchange42]

Can you tell me where in Toronto this TTC subway station is? No points for those who have been following along: this isn't in Toronto, this is how planners see the corner of Highway 7 and Millway Avenue in Vaughan sometime in the future, after the subway has come to town, and development has followed suit.

Metrolinx


Here's what the corner looks like now. That's a big box Future Shop and Home Outfitters. Behind it is a parking lot. Behind that are several parking lots, fronting Wal-Marts and multi-screen cinemas and fast food joints.

Google Streetview


And that's what the Spadina subway line is being extended to, for which many have called it the line to nowhere. (Here's an aerial imagining of how the spot will look upon the opening of the subway.)

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


Vaughan does not want 'nowhere' to be the case however, so the City has embraced the provincial government's Places To Grow plan which encourages much more dense development in nodes throughout the GTA. To that end, the new terminus of the Spadina subway line will be in an area dubbed 'Vaughan Metropolitan Centre'. (Here's an aerial imaging of how the area around the station will develop in the not too distant future.)

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


The City of Vaughan wants that name - Vaughan Metropolitan Centre - to be applied to the subway station too, and York Region Council agrees. The TTC has other ideas: it wants the much more sensible 'Vaughan Centre'. That name fits with North York Centre and Scarborough Centre stations, and it fits on maps too. (I can tell you from experience that mapmakers are not fans of run-on names for small points on a map.) What the shorter version doesn't fit with are the overly insecure Vaughan and York Region planners and politicians who think that we'll all sit up and take notice of Vaughan if they stick the word Metropolitan in there. What they will get for their insistence on pushing the pretentious moniker is a lot of eye-rolling. Let's hope that cooler heads prevail and that the shorter version survives when final decisions are made: Vaughan doesn't really need to be the object of any more derision than it already often is. (Remember their 'The City Above Toronto' line? This is more of that sloganeering, now becoming tacky and misguided.)

So, we've explored the context of the station, let's arrive down below on a train from the Big TO, and gradually return to the surface.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


There's not really a lot to see at platform level. The walls are treated concrete. Below, first, an earlier rendering; below that, more up-to-date with several changes to the signage. Lower still, the Designated Waiting Area near the middle of the platform.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


You'll see where we are in this section.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


Up one level, and we are at the Concourse. Fare collection will be done on this level, and the fare paid area here only extends to the relatively small orange section seen in the middle of the plan below. All connections to other transit here are York Region Transit or GO or long range Brampton buses, so the fare paid area does not need to extend further. Note the arrows lining the lengthy walkways above the station. These hallways will connect the station to future developments above. The larger, angled hall at the top left is where passengers will connect to and from the VIVA bus station on Highway 7.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


Above the fare booth and barriers, stairs, escalators, and an elevator will access the entrance pavilion above.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


A newer rendering shows updated signage.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


Cross sections give you the feel for the vertical layout of the station at two points in the pavilion area, at one end, and in the middle.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


The entrance pavilion is an oval dome, and is where Grimshaw Architect's design for the station starts to shine. The interior of the dome features artwork by Toronto's Paul Raff Studio.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


A newer rendering shows some difference in the artwork, which is mostly made up of mirrors. They aren't reflecting any change in those using the station in the two renderings, so it remains to be seen where the colours will come from!

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


Here's a description of the artwork from Paul Raff Studio: This architecturally integrated artwork transforms the station’s dome into a sculpture of reflected light. It is composed of mirrors which create a dynamic three-dimensionally collaged view of life in the station, and skylights that are carefully aligned with solstice and equinox sun angles to accentuate the effects of sunlight through the deep spaces below.

Paul Raff Studio

Paul Raff Studio

Paul Raff Studio


This plan shows the entrance pavilion's position beside Millway Avenue within a landscaped plaza. Circulation in and out of the building comes at each "corner" of the oval.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


Grimshaw, the designer of York University station, (along with many rail stations and airports around the world amongst their accomplishments), has given the pavilion an optimistic and welcoming look, springing from the ground and sheltering under its zinc clad roof, while being open with inviting glazing at the sides.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


The landscaping will look great too, if they manage to pull something this lush off. Vaughan will want to make a statement here, that it has arrived along with the subway, so signs for a pleasant setting here are hopeful.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


A slightly different view, newer and closer, of the same spot.

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


So, we'll take a quick look back at the grade level plans, at the time of opening first, and then in the future with substantial development around the station. Notice in both plans the location of the VIVA bus station in the middle of Highway 7 to the west of Millway Avenue. (North is at the right in the plans shown in this report.) The centre-of-the-road rapid busway and station will be in place by the time the station opens. Transferring passengers will access the subway via stairs leading underground at the east end of the bus station.

At Opening

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects

Future Build-out

TTC/Arup Canada/Grimshaw Architects


Here's the bus station in its planned future context,

Metrolinx


and to end off, here is the greater future context, a densely built up and urban Highway 7 that we sincerely hope will come to pass not too long from now.

Metrolinx


42

 

[GTS]

Thanks for all the piks of these future stations. I have lived in quite a few cities now and one thing that I appreciate about many of Toronto's subway station design is the interface between bus routes and the subway. Because at a lot of stations the connecting buses, and sometimes streetcars, enter right into the station. Like I said I have lived and visited many cities and Toronto really does this well. I know Vancouver is a lot milder climate but when you don't have a proper sheltered area to wait for your connecting bus it makes tranferiring very uncomfortable sometimes in my many years in that city. I am fairly new here to Toronto but it is a design feature that I greatly appreciate, and I am sure this added design (of buses entering the station at many of the TTC stations) is something that would increase ridership greatly by increasing us transit users comfort and safety. So I hope that the stations you showed keep on doing this type of design feature of having the connecting TTC buses enter directly into the stations and even the YRT buses entering into the stations up in that area as well.

 

[Solaris]

Metrolinx

Thanks for the info + renderings I-42 ... when I first looked at this image it seemed familar but I could quite make out where it was, then I realised Metrolinx decided to 'cut and paste' several buildings together to create this rendering, a interesting choice of podium from The Waterclub' (downtown) paired with Liberty Square (Markham) above, behind which lies Matrix @ Cityplace, then Arc @ Bayview Village beyond, and RBC Tower's podium in the background

got to love photoshop~