Platforms centre platform Disabled access Yes Opened 28 January 1978 Province Ontario | Parking None Address Toronto, ON, Canada Platform Island platform Tracks 2 | |
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Location 655 Lawrence Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario
Canada Connections TTC buses
52 Lawrence West
59 Maple Leaf
109 Ranee
352 Lawrence West
400 Lawrence Manor Community Bus Structure type at grade in highway median Similar Lawrence, Glencairn, St George, Eglinton West, Yorkdale | ||
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. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.
Contents
Besides the collector booth, the station has a Gateway Newstands in the paid area of the south side area.
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 and generally used as drop off point by car.
Architecture and art
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.