Editing Line 4 Sheppard (section)

===Origins===
The TTC proposed the Sheppard line as part of the [[Network 2011]] transportation plan, unveiled in 1985, which called for a line from Yonge Street to [[Victoria Park Avenue]] on the boundary between North York and Scarborough.<ref>Michael Smith. "$2.7{{nbsp}}Billion Metro transit plan called affordable." ''Toronto Star''. May 29, 1985. pg. A1</ref> The plan was approved by [[Metropolitan Toronto]], but funding was delayed by the provincial government of [[David Peterson]]'s [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal Party]].

In 1993, the governing [[Ontario New Democratic Party|New Democratic Party]] (NDP) under [[Bob Rae]] proposed provincial funding for four subway/LRT projects for the TTC. Included in these four proposals were plans to build new subway lines along [[Eglinton Avenue|Eglinton]] and Sheppard Avenues and work was begun on both projects.<ref>Royson James. "Deciding which train to take." ''Toronto Star''." March 8, 1994. pg. A15</ref> The NDP was defeated in the [[1995 Ontario general election|1995 provincial election]] and the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservatives]] under [[Mike Harris]] were elected. Shortly afterwards, Harris cancelled the [[Eglinton West line|Eglinton subway]] in [[York, Ontario|York]] (though it would be later revived as [[Line 5 Eglinton]], albeit as a light rail line with two long underground sections) but continued work on the Sheppard line.

Funding for the Sheppard line was initially rejected by city council.{{clarify|which city council?|date=May 2015}} However, after a number of votes on different alterations to the project (including only building the subway line as far as [[Leslie Street]]<!--Don't bypass redirect per [[WP:NOTBROKEN]]-->), the proposal to build the Sheppard line tunnels only, without tracks, was passed by a narrow margin. After this vote passed city council, a re-vote was taken on the entire Sheppard line project to Don Mills, which then passed by a very narrow margin. James Bow, a Toronto transit reporter, documented that the political clout of North York mayor [[Mel Lastman]] (he was later elected mayor of the [[Amalgamation of Toronto|amalgamated City of Toronto]] in 1998) was crucial to the Sheppard line proposal being implemented.<ref>[http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5110.shtml "The Sheppard Subway – Transit Toronto – Content"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328084113/http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5110.shtml |date=March 28, 2013}}.</ref> Councillor [[Joe Pantalone]] strongly supported the line, arguing it was a matter of civic equity and that the suburbs deserved good transit, which would{{snd}}in his opinion{{snd}}bring [[transit-oriented development]] to densify the suburbs.<ref name="morrow">{{cite web |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/lessons-from-torontos-sheppard-subway-line/article5402731/ |title=Lessons from Toronto's Sheppard subway line |first=Adrian |last=Morrow |work=The Globe and Mail |date=November 16, 2012 |access-date=May 1, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430070344/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/lessons-from-torontos-sheppard-subway-line/article5402731/ |archive-date=April 30, 2017}}</ref> [[David L. Gunn]], who was general manager of the TTC, opposed the Sheppard line, saying that it "made no sense to build an expensive new subway when the existing system was strapped for cash to make basic repairs" and "if the city wanted to expand transit, it would be better to do it downtown, easing congestion in the busiest parts of the system".<ref name="morrow" />