Lawrence West (TTC)

Lawrence West
File:Lawrence West TTC bench and signage.JPG
Location	655 Lawrence Avenue West Toronto, Ontario Canada
Coordinates
Platforms	centre platform
Tracks	2
Connections	TTC buses
Construction
Structure type	at grade in highway median
Disabled access	Yes
Architect	Dunlop Farrow Aitken
History
Opened	28 January 1978
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	22,910
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station Yorkdale toward Downsview Yonge–University Glencairn toward Finch

Lawrence West is a subway station on the Yonge–University line 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 Square Shopping Centre.

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.

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. In addition, repairs were made to the saw-tooth bus platforms and the roadway was repaved for low floor buses. The northside entrance remains inaccessible due to space restrictions.

Architecture and art

Main station structure and bus platforms, on the south side of Lawrence Avenue West

Main station structure and bus platforms, on the south side of Lawrence Avenue West

Dunlop Farrow Aitken was the firm responsible for the station's architecture. 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.

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. 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, 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

• 52A/B/D/F Lawrence West eastbound to Lawrence 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 - terminates here eastbound

• 59A Maple Leaf to Weston Road via Gary Drive

59B to Weston Road via Church Street

• 109B/C Ranee south to Eglinton West Station

109B north to Neptune Drive via Marlee Avenue and Flemington Road; south to Eglinton West Station

109C north to Neptune Drive via Marlee Avenue and Varna Drive; south to Eglinton West Station

• 400 Lawrence Manor Community Bus
• 352 Blue Night Lawrence West eastbound to Sunnybrook Hospital and westbound to Pearson Airport. Overnight service stops on Lawrence Avenue and does not enter the station

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Lawrence West Station at the Toronto Transit Commission