Lawrence East (TTC)

History

Lawrence East opened in 1985, along with the rest of the Scarborough RT line. All bus routes that operated along Lawrence Avenue East at the time were rerouted to serve the station on 23 March 1985, one day after the opening.

The station was renovated around 2011-2012 to include automated sliding doors, allowing the station to be accessible for the southbound platform and the bus platform.

On 10 August 2012 just after 1:00 pm, a 19-year-old man was shot many times in the stomach at the east side of the station near the GO train tracks. The victim was rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital and made a full recovery, the suspect was never found, and no arrests were made. TTC service was not affected, but the parking lot was closed off for police investigations.

The station will be closed in the upcoming years when either the Scarborough RT line is closed and replaced with a Bloor–Danforth line extension, or other light rail transit plans that the city is considering. With plans from different views, the station may be moved eastward to the McCowan Road area.

On December 13, 2016, Lawrence East station is the last station on Line 3 Scarbrough to be Presto enabled, which means all of the stations along Line 3 Scarborough are Presto-enabled.

Station description

The station is located underneath the elevated portion of Lawrence Avenue East, in the Midland Avenue and Kennedy Road corridor. The station is fairly small and is only built on two levels.

The RT platforms, bus platforms, as well as the only entrance are located on ground level. The entrance is an automatic sliding door facing north with a sidewalk connecting to Lawrence Avenue East to the west side, and an underpass underneath both the RT and GO rails towards the commuter parking lot, Access Road, and Prudential Drive. Below ground level in the interior of the station is an underpass that connects the entrance to the northbound platforms through the means of stairs and escalators.

This station is a "half accessible" station, as all services within the station except for the northbound platform are accessible. The TTC suggests that people in need of accessible service onto the northbound platform to take the RT southbound to Kennedy station, and back up. An accessible fare gate is also available inside the station at the main fare booth.

Parking

A commuter parking lot is located just east of the station, also underneath the elevated section of Lawrence Avenue East. As of 1 January 2012, the daily rate of parking from 5:00 am to 2:00 am is $3.00 on weekdays, while in the afternoon and evening rate from 3:00 pm and later is $2.00. The parking is free during weekends and statutory holidays. The capacity of the parking lot is 90 spots.

Rapid transit infrastructure in the vicinity

The RT tracks continue to travel on ground level, straight north after Lawrence East station, running parallel to the nearby railway tracks. South of the station, the tracks continue to travel on ground level but it becomes elevated shortly before reaching Kennedy Station and it makes a 90 degree turn.

Surface connections

The bus platform is located at the west side of the station, and only serves one route during the day.

54 Lawrence East all westbound routes to Eglinton Station

54A eastbound to Starspray Boulevard 54B eastbound to Orton Park Road 54E express peak-hour limited stop service to Starspray Boulevard

354 Lawrence East Blue Night eastbound to Starspray Loop and westbound to Eglinton Station (transfer required)