Lawrence West station

Lawrence West is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the median of William R. Allen Road at Lawrence Avenue West. The station serves the local communities of Lawrence Heights, Lawrence Manor and Glen Park, and nearby destinations such as the Columbus Centre, Lawrence Heights Community Recreation Centre and Lawrence Allen Centre. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.[3] The station has a Gateway Newstands in the paid area of the south side area.

Lawrence West
Location	655 Lawrence Avenue West Toronto, Ontario Canada
Coordinates	43°42′57″N 79°26′39″W
Platforms	Centre platform
Tracks	2
Connections	TTC buses  52  Lawrence West  59  Maple Leaf  109  Ranee  352   Lawrence West  400  Lawrence Manor Community Bus  952  Lawrence West Express
Construction
Structure type	At-grade in highway median
Parking	None
Disabled access	Yes
Architect	Dunlop Farrow Aitken [1]
History
Opened	28 January 1978
Traffic
Passengers (2018[2])	19,740
Rank	47 of 75
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station Yorkdale toward Vaughan Yonge–University Glencairn toward Finch

History

The station opened in 1978, as part of the subway line extension from St. George to Wilson station.

In 2008, the Toronto Star reported this station, along with Lansdowne, Kennedy, and Warden to be a "known problem area" in terms of crime in the subway system.[4]

In 2014 an elevator, automatic sliding doors and an accessible fare gate were installed in the main part of the station on the south side of Lawrence Avenue, to make the station wheelchair accessible.[5] In addition, repairs were made to the sawtooth bus platforms and the roadway was repaved for low floor buses.[6] The northside entrance remains inaccessible due to space restrictions and generally used as drop off point by car.

On 6 January 2019, the fare collector booth at this station was permanently closed. Instead, the station is staffed by roaming customer service agents, who have been in place at Line 1 stations between Wilson and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre since the Toronto–York Spadina subway extension opened on 17 December 2017. While customers are still able to pay their fares by tokens and tickets, they can no longer purchase these at the station, and customers paying by cash require exact change.[7][8] As with all TTC subway stations, Presto cards are also accepted as fare payment and can be purchased and loaded with funds or an unlimited monthly TTC pass at the Presto fare vending machines located in the station.

On 5 April 2019, Lawrence West and Yorkdale stations became the first two locations to sell single-use Presto tickets, which are sold from the stations' Presto fare vending machines.[9]

Architecture and art

Main station structure and bus platforms, on the south side of Lawrence Avenue West, depicting Spacing... Aerial Highways

Dunlop Farrow Aitken was the firm responsible for the station's architecture.[10] The structure is composed of an enclosed train platform area in the median of Allen Road, which is bridged by a bus loop and waiting area on the south side of the Lawrence Avenue bridge. Staffed entrances on both sides of the street connect to a transfer area which links the train platform and the bus area.[11]

Upon entrance from the Lawrence Avenue bridge over Allen Road, the bus waiting area and the train platform are apparent. This openness is achieved through glazed walls and a large stairwell.[12] The glass is framed with distinctive orange-painted metal. The platform level features exposed concrete walls, with a long strip of skylights above the tracks with the same orange framing used throughout the station. Rectangular prism benches with rectangular tiles of yellow, orange, and brown hues are unique to the station. Similar tiles are used on the floors and centre pillars.

Spacing... Aerial Highways, a large 300 foot ceramic tile mural designed by Claude Breeze,[13] spreads across the north face of the main station building above the bus platform.

Surface connections

Main article: List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes

When the subway is closed, buses use stops outside of the terminal along Lawrence Avenue West. TTC routes serving the station include:

Route	Name	Additional Information
52A/B/D/F	Lawrence West	Eastbound to Lawrence station (Eastbound buses stop on Lawrence Avenue West outside the station.)
52A		Westbound to Pearson Airport via Dixon Road
52B		Westbound to Westwood Mall Bus Terminal via Dixon Road (Extra fare required west of Airport)
52D		Westbound to McNaughton via Dixon Road (Extra fare required west of Airport)
52F		Westbound to Royal York Road
52G		Westbound to Martin Grove Road via The Westway (This station is the eastern terminus for this route.)
59A	Maple Leaf	Westbound to Weston Road via Gary Drive
59B		Westbound to Weston Road via Church Street
109B/C	Ranee	Southbound to Eglinton West station via Marlee Avenue
109B		Northbound to Neptune Drive via Flemington Road
109C		Northbound to Neptune Drive via Varna Drive
163	Oakwood	Southbound to Ossington Station[14]
400	Lawrence Manor	Community Bus
952	Lawrence West Express	Eastbound to Lawrence station and westbound to Pearson Airport (Rush hour service; eastbound buses stop on Lawrence Avenue West outside the station.)
352	Lawrence West	Blue Night service; Eastbound to Sunnybrook Hospital and westbound to Pearson Airport. (Overnight service stops on Lawrence Avenue West and does not enter the station.)

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Subway ridership, 2018" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved 5 February 2019. This table shows the typical number of customer-trips made on each subway on an average weekday and the typical number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on an average weekday.
3. "There's now free WiFi at over 40 TTC subway stations". blogTO. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
4. 4 held in subway swarmings
5. "Lawrence West Station: Elevator Construction Update". website. TTC. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
6. Lito Romano, Community Liaison (April 2013). "Lawrence West Station: Easier Access Program" (PDF). TTC. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
7. "New Customer Service Agents at Yorkdale and Lawrence West stations". ttc.ca. Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
8. "Collector booths to close in favour of Customer Service Agents at TTC's Yorkdale and Lawrence West stations". ttc.ca. Toronto Transit Commission. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
9. "TTC extends sales of Presto Tickets to 10 stations". Toronto Transit Commission. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. "Design for Transit", Canadian Architect, 21: 34, 1976
12. "Design for Transit", p. 34
13. "Breeze, Claude". Saskatchewan Archival Information Network. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
14. "163 Oakwood - Metrolinx construction - Line 5 Eglinton". ttc.ca. TTC. 29 March 2020. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

External links

Media related to Lawrence West Station at Wikimedia Commons

• Lawrence West station at the Toronto Transit Commission