North York Centre (TTC)

North York Centre
Location 5102 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates 43°46′06″N 79°24′46″W / 43.76833°N 79.41278°WCoordinates: 43°46′06″N 79°24′46″W / 43.76833°N 79.41278°W
Platforms side platforms
Tracks 2
Construction
Structure type underground
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened 18 June 1987
Traffic
Passengers (2012-13[1]) 25,330
Ranked 29th of 69
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
toward Downsview
 Yonge–University
Terminus

North York Centre is a subway station on the Yonge–University line in Toronto, Canada. The station is located under Yonge Street, where it is intersected by Park Home Avenue and Empress Avenue. This is within North York Centre, a high density area of the Willowdale neighbourhood. This community formerly consisted of single family homes and small businesses, and the coming of the subway has served as a stimulus for high-rise residential and commercial development.

History

North York Centre opened in 1987 in what was then the City of North York as a single station addition to the Yonge-University line.

This station was added by excavating alongside the existing tracks, on a level section of route provided for this purpose when the line was built. The view across the tracks between platforms is not as open as most stations, as the solid concrete wall had to retain its load-bearing strength, and smaller openings were cut.[2]

In late 2007 the TTC began work to make the station accessible to those with limited mobility, and in November 2009 the work was completed.[3] Two elevators were installed to take passengers from mezzanine level to the subway platforms. Persons in wheelchairs or with other mobility restrictions are now able to enter from street level by way of existing facilities in the major buildings on both sides of the station.

Public art

Artwork in the station consists of North York Heritage Murals by North York artists Nicholas and Susana Graven, located at the platform level. The two murals, each made of over 5000 pieces of glazed ceramic tiles using a process invented by Artessa Studios of North York, depict scenes of North York in the 19th century in an abstract way and are titled:

The historic place names shown above each of the murals are names of historic communities near an imaginary line from the northwest to the southeast through the historic Lansing.

Top of the North Hill—1850s
Traffic at Yonge and Sheppard—1860s

Nearby landmarks

Yonge Street in 2005, looking north toward the Empress Ave intersection

Direct underground level connection from the station are: on the east side with the Empress Walk shopping, entertainment and residential complex; and on the west side with City Centre, which includes commercial office and retail space as well as a cluster of City of Toronto facilities that include Mel Lastman Square, North York Civic Centre, North York Central Library and Douglas Snow Aquatic Centre.[4]

Other nearby landmarks include Earl Haig Secondary School, Gibson House, Toronto Centre for the Arts and York Cemetery.

Surface connections

References

  1. ↑ "Subway ridership, 2012-2013" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. This table shows the typical number of customer-trips made on each subway on an average weekday and the typical number of customers travelling to and from each station platform on an average weekday. Five stations serve two subways, and so are listed twice, once for each subway
  2. ↑ James Bow (2010-10-21). "North York Centre Station". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  3. ↑ "Accessible Transit Services Plan - 2009 Status Report". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved January 2012.
  4. ↑ "Douglas Snow Aquatic Centre". Parks, Forestry & Recreation. City of Toronto. Retrieved August 2012.

External links

Media related to North York Centre Station at Wikimedia Commons