The Metrogate Story
Fifteen years ago, the City approved a high density residential community in a physically isolated industrial area between Sheppard Avenue and Highway 401 east of Kennedy based on plans to build a transit hub with a relocated Agincourt GO Station, a subway station and a new north/south road under the railway that would connect the area to more new housing and other communities, their services and amenities. Since then, many of the approved high-rise towers and townhomes have been built and accommodate about 10,000 residents. Unfortunately, the planned transit investments have long since been abandoned and the new connecter road remains unfunded in the City’s Capital Budget.
Welcome to Metrogate, a high-density isolated residential community built to complement transportation investments that never materialized. From the 1950’s to the 1990’s, the area was the site of warehouses and a Truck Terminal described by City Staff “. . . as almost completely surrounded by pieces of infrastructure, which make it difficult to weave it into the surrounding urban fabric. . . Connectivity between the site and its surroundings is constrained by the unusually strong boundaries presented by the CPR line, GO line, Highland Creek and Hwy 401.”
Despite the challenges associated with these physical barriers, in 2008 the City noted that they could be overcome because “The property is situated along the proposed extension of the Sheppard Subway line and adjacent to a proposed transit hub incorporating a new subway station, a relocated Agincourt GO Station and a bus terminal serving the TTC and GO Transit.” To capitalize on these significant transit investments, City Staff described a bright future for this community:
“The vision for the Metrogate Agincourt Redevelopment is of an urban, mixed-use community, featuring townhouses, high-rise residences, offices, retail, and a future multimodal transit station surrounding a park. A new pedestrian connection, and eventually a new road under the CP Railway, will connect the new community to the neighbourhood and park to the north, while an internal network of roads, lanes and walkways will provide convenient access within the community.”
Starting around 2010, the townhouses and several tall 35-40 storey towers began to emerge and this community of about 10,000 residents is still growing. There are a couple of tiny retail stores, a dentist, a small park, a 400-room hotel that has been converted into a homeless shelter and an occasional bus that meanders in off Kennedy Road to collect the transit dependent to take them to a distant subway station.
The term wasn’t in use back in 2008 when the City planned what is now Metrogate, but today we would have called this a purpose-built Transit Oriented Community like the ones the Provincial Government is planning along the new transit lines currently under construction in the GTA. Unfortunately, it is a shining example of the consequences of basing land use planning on transportation plans that blow in the wind for decades without resolution.
Despite past failures to deliver on planned infrastructure, viable options are still available that could achieve much of the City’s original vision for this disconnected community. Assigning funds to the planned North/South complete street under the railway north to Sheppard would be a great start. Not only would it expedite the construction of the 2000 new residential units that are proposed to be built north of the railway, but it would also connect the entire area to the currently proposed Sheppard Subway Extension and to the existing Agincourt GO Station
This community can still be unlocked, it can still become a Transit Oriented Community as originally envisioned, it can still add thousands of new residents north of the railway. As all three levels of government blast messages about building more homes, getting people out of cars and onto transit and creating complete, connected communities, the solution in this instance is still obvious after all these years. The opportunity to connect thousands of people to higher order transit was the original vision for this area and that opportunity still exists, unless of course, transportation plans and promises to expedite more housing continue to be just that – messaging.
It's time for action! Build the north/south road, extend the Sheppard Subway and connect an area that could soon have over 12,000 new residents in the area east of Kennedy Road between Sheppard and Hwy 401 into a real transit-oriented community that is more than just high-rises connected by decades only by lines on a so-called Official Plan and election promises.
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