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. The station has a Gateway Newstands in the north end concourse area at street level.

Lawrence West
General information
Location	655 Lawrence Avenue West Toronto, Ontario Canada
Coordinates	43°42′55″N 79°26′38″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
Accessible	Yes
Architect	Dunlop Farrow Aitken [1]
Other information
Website	Official station page
History
Opened	28 January 1978; 47 years ago (1978-01-28)
Passengers
2023–2024[2]	19,742
Rank	35 of 70
Services
Preceding station Toronto Transit Commission Following station Yorkdale towards Vaughan Line 1 Yonge–University Glencairn towards Finch
Location

History

A green plant growing in the border area of Lawrence West station in 2008

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.^[3]

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.^[4] In addition, repairs were made to the sawtooth bus platforms and the roadway was repaved for low floor buses.^[5] The northside entrance remains inaccessible due to space restrictions and generally used as drop off point by car.

On 6 January 2019, this station discontinued sales of legacy TTC fare media (tokens and tickets), previously available at a fare collector booth. Presto vending machines were available to sell Presto cards and to load funds or a monthly Metropass onto them.^[6][7]

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.^[8]

Architecture and art

Main station skylight structure and bus platforms

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11] 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,^[12] 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	Eglinton 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
52D		Westbound to McNaughton via Dixon Road
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
400	Lawrence Manor	Community Bus
952	Lawrence West Express	Eastbound to Eglinton 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.)