Forest Hill station (Toronto)

Forest Hill is an underground light rail transit (LRT) station under construction on Line 5 Eglinton, a new line that is part of the Toronto subway system.^[3] It will be located in the Forest Hill neighbourhood at the intersection of Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue. It is scheduled to open no earlier than 2024.^[2]

Forest Hill
Primary entrance under construction in January 2024
General information
Location	842 Eglinton Avenue West,[1] Toronto, Ontario Canada
Coordinates	43°42′04″N 79°25′31″W
Platforms	Centre platform
Tracks	2
Connections	TTC buses
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Accessible	Yes
Architect	IBI Group Architects and SNC-Lavalin[1]
Other information
Status	Under construction
History
Opening	2024 (0 years ago) (2024)[2]
Services
Preceding station Toronto Transit Commission Following station Cedarvale towards Mount Dennis Line 5 Eglinton (opens 2024) Chaplin towards Kennedy

Secondary entrance under construction

The station will have two entrances. The main entrance will be at the northeast corner of Eglinton Avenue West and Bathurst Street and will be fully accessible. The secondary entrance will be on the north side of Eglinton about 50 m (160 ft) west of Bathurst Street, opposite Peveril Hill, and will include retail spaces at street level. On-street connections will be available for TTC buses. There will be 60 exterior spaces for bicycles.^[3] The secondary entrance building will also house a traction power substation.^[4]

Station naming

During the planning stages for Line 5 Eglinton, the station was given the working name "Bathurst", which is identical to the pre-existing Bathurst station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth. On November 23, 2015, a report to the TTC Board recommended giving a unique name to each station in the subway system (including Line 5 Eglinton). Thus, "Forest Hill" was chosen as the station's official name.^[5]

Construction

A small plaza at the northeast corner of the Eglinton and Bathurst intersection, that used to house several businesses including a coffee shop and convenience store, was demolished to make way for the main station entrance.^[6] At 874–876 Eglinton Avenue West, three storefronts were demolished to build the secondary entrance building. One of these businesses, the House of Chan, a Chinese-Canadian restaurant, was a local landmark that needed to relocate.^[7]

After completion of construction of the station headwalls, restoration of the roadway on Bathurst Street began on August 16, 2015.^[8]

On April 18, 2016, a scaffold erected across the face of the future secondary entrance collapsed, injuring seven people (three seriously). The collapsed structure was the façade of the former location of House of Chan, which was relocated eastwards along Eglinton Avenue to the west of Avenue Road.^[9][10]

Surface connections

Main article: List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes

As of November 2023^[update], the following are the proposed connecting routes that would serve this station when Line 5 Eglinton opens:^[11]

Route	Name	Additional information
7	Bathurst	Northbound to Steeles Avenue West and southbound to Bathurst station
33	Forest Hill	Southbound to St. Clair West station
34	Eglinton	Westbound to Mount Dennis station and eastbound to Kennedy station

References

1. "Bathurst Crosstown Station". Urban Toronto. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
2. Ranger, Michael (May 16, 2023). "Eglinton Crosstown won't open until 2024, construction group to take legal action: Metrolinx". CityNews. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
3. "Bathurst Station". Eglinton Crosstown. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
4. "Appendix "A" – Expropriation of Property Interests for the Eglinton Scarborough Crosstown Transit Project" (PDF). toronto.ca. City of Toronto. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 7, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2014. Main station entrance and vent shafts for Bathurst Station. Secondary entrance, vent shafts and traction power substation for Bathurst Station.
5. "Line 5 Eglinton Station Names" (PDF). Board Presentation. Toronto Transit Commission. November 23, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 26, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2015. TTC staff evaluated the initial report and the proposed names and provided feedback and recommendations. A primary TTC concern was to avoid replication and redundancy with existing TTC station names. The proposed names are unique and are not likely to be confused with existing station names.
6. Fannie Sunshine (November 29, 2011). "Bathurst station plans unveiled in Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown open house". Inside Toronto. Metroland News. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
7. Ross, Brendan (January 2012). "Local landmarks to be appropriated for Bathurst station". Post City Toronto. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014. A recent public consultation meeting on the design of the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown rapid transit line's Bathurst station revealed that three local landmarks are likely to be appropriated and demolished for its construction.
8. MacKenzie, Robert (August 16, 2015). "Eglinton Crosstown LRT – Bathurst: Roadway restoration, August 16, 17". Transit Toronto. Retrieved August 16, 2015. Since they've almost finished this part of the project, they're restoring the roadway.
9. Davidson, Terry (April 18, 2016). "Stroller protects baby in scaffolding collapse on Eglinton". Toronto Sun. Retrieved April 19, 2016. A baby stroller may have saved its tiny occupant from injury Monday when a wall collapsed at the street-side demolition site of what will be a Crosstown LRT station on Eglinton Ave. W.
10. Paul Johnston (April 18, 2016). "Eglinton scaffolding collapse injures 7, including baby: paramedics". CP24. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
11. "2024 Annual Service Plan" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. November 17, 2023. p. 106.

External links

• Media related to Forest Hill Station at Wikimedia Commons