Sheppard Avenue

Sheppard Avenue is an east-west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A small portion of a continuation of the road in Pickering, Ontario is also called Sheppard Avenue.

History

Sheppard is named for Joseph Shepard I, who acquired convert|400|acre|ha of land at the northwest corner of Sheppard and Yonge Street. His son opened a general store there. The site was occupied in 1860 by the Dempsey Hardware Store, which was later moved and restored as a museum. In the former Scarborough municipality, Sheppard was once called the "Lansing Concession".

Routing

heppard Avenue East

East of Yonge Street, Sheppard travels east through North York to Highway 404. Historically, it continued straight to Victoria Park Avenue at the Scarborough border, where travellers then turned south to meet up with the Sheppard section through Scarborough. However, a new section called the Lansing Cutoff was constructed joining the two disconnected pieces. The orphaned section of Sheppard between the 404 and Victoria Park was renamed Old Sheppard Avenue. coord|43|46|34|N|79|20|13|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=inline

Sheppard continues straight east through Scarborough until just east of Meadowvale Road, where the Rouge River valley presents steep grades coord|43|48|33|N|79|09|58|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=inline, and so Sheppard curves southwards to meet Kingston Road just north of Highway 401. At that junction, it also meets Port Union Road, which heads south into the Port Union neighbourhood. However, Twyn Rivers Drive continues east into the Rouge valley as a collector road, and becomes Sheppard again at Altona Road just east of the border of Pickering, Durham Region. It continues further east until it ends at Fairport Road just north of Highway 2 / Kingston Road. coord|43|49|28|N|79|06|26|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=inline

This routing parallels the alignment for Highway 401, and serves as an alternative if the highway is closed or congested.

heppard Avenue West

West of Yonge Street, Sheppard travels west past Bathurst Street and Wilson Heights Boulevard. Further west, the road allowance became blocked in 1939 by the appropriation of land for a DeHavilland aircraft plant and, after World War II, Canadian Forces Base Downsview. A crescent-shaped section of road was finally constructed along the northern edge of the now former base in the 1970s, connecting Sheppard at Wilson Heights to Keele Street. coord|43|45|17|N|79|28|42|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=inline Today, Sheppard also intersects Allen Road on this section, but the intersecting portion of Allen Road was not constructed until 1982. Sheppard Avenue continues still further west to Weston Road, but cannot be extended because the Humber Sheppard Community Centre (the former site of St. Basil's Catholic High School) is on the west side of the intersection.coord|43|44|01|N|79|32|18|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=inline

Public Transportation

The Sheppard Subway runs under Sheppard Avenue East from Yonge Street to Don Mills Road, with proposals to continue the line farther eastwards to the Scarborough Town Centre. There are five stations on the line providing access to Sheppard Avenue, including Bayview, Bessarion, and Leslie, as well as the Sheppard-Yonge (at the junction with the Yonge section of the Yonge-University-Spadina line) and Don Mills termini. Downsview station is located at the corner of Sheppard and Allen Road at the northern terminus of the Spadina section of the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

GO Transit has stations at Agincourt on the Stouffville line, on Sheppard between Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue, and at Oriole on the Richmond Hill line, south-west of the intersection of Leslie Street and Sheppard.

Incidents

On the night of April 25, 2006, a water main burst underneath a bridge on Sheppard Avenue West between Bathurst Street and Senlac Road, weakening the foundation and causing it to sink convert|3|m|ft. Traffic and TTC routes were diverted by way of Senlac Avenue and Ellerslie Avenue to reach Bathurst Street. Repairs were initially expected to take as long as three months, but the closed section was re-opened on May 19, 2006.

Communities

* Downsview
* Willowdale (includes Lansing)
* North York Centre
* Henry Farm
* Parkway Forest
* The Peanut
* Agincourt
* Malvern

Attractions

*Bayview Village
* Sheppard Centre
* Fairview Mall
* Agincourt Mall
* Downsview Park
* LCol George Taylor Denison III Armoury
* North York General Hospital
* Rouge Park
* Toronto Zoo

ee also

* Finch Avenue
* Steeles Avenue

References

* [http://www.mountpleasantgroupofcemeteries.ca/about_us/fileys_stories/Sheppard_Joseph%20II.asp Joseph Sheppard II]