Sheppard Avenue
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
Sheppard Avenue is an east-west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sheppard is named for Joseph Shepard I, who acquired 400 acres (1.6 km²) of land at the northwest corner of Sheppard and Yonge Street. His son opened a general store on the north-west corner, the site later occupied by the Dempsey Hardware Store (which was moved to the Empress and Yonge area for use as a museum).
In the former Scarborough municipality, Sheppard was once the Lansing Concession; running from Victoria Park Avenue almost unbroken to the Pickering Township Line. Just east of Meadowvale Road, the Rouge River, presents steep grades, and Sheppard curved southwards to meet the Kingston Road, near the road to Port Union.
Twyn Rivers Drive, continues into this valley and the Rouge Park as a collector road and becomes Sheppard again within Durham Region and Pickering.
West of Victoria Park, the road allowance to the present Highway 404, was first constructed as the Lansing Cutoff. There is a short Old Sheppard Avenue running along the former North York concession.
This routing paralleled the alignment for Highway 401, and still serves as an alternative if the highway is closed, or disturbed by congestion.
West of Yonge Street, the road allowance was blocked with the building of the Downsview Airport lands, for the DeHavilland plant, and the Canadian Armed Forces Base at Downsview. The road was finally constructed through the now former base in the 1970s.
The Sheppard Subway runs under Sheppard Avenue east from Don Mills Road to Yonge Street, with proposals to continue this line eastwards to Scarborough Town Centre. There are five Stations on this line accessible to Sheppard Avenue; including Bayview, Bessarion, and Leslie, as well as the Sheppard-Yonge, and Don Mills termini. The Downsview station is located at the corner of Sheppard and William R. Allen Road.
GO Transit trains also stop at Agincourt on the Stouffville line, while the Oriole on the Richmond Hill line is near the Leslie Street intersection.
On the night of April 25, 2006, a water main burst underneath the section of Sheppard Avenue West between Bathurst Street and Senlac Road, weakening the foundation and causing it to sink three metres. Traffic and TTC routes have been diverted by way of Senlac Avenue and Ellerslie Avenue to reach Bathurst Street. It is expected to take two to three months to repair the water and road infrastructure.
Communities along Sheppard Avenue:
- Downsview,
- Willowdale (includes Lansing),
- North York Centre,
- Henry Farm,
- Parkway Forest,
- The Peanut,
- Agincourt,
- Malvern.
Attractions along Sheppard:
- Sheppard Centre
- Fairview Mall
- Agincourt Mall
- Downsview Park
- Canadian Forces Central HQ
- North York General Hospital
- Rouge Park
- Toronto Zoo