Osgoode (TTC)

Osgoode
Location 181 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates 43°39′03″N 79°23′12″W / 43.65083°N 79.38667°WCoordinates: 43°39′03″N 79°23′12″W / 43.65083°N 79.38667°W
Owned by Toronto Transit Commission
Platforms centre platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Structure type underground
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened 28 February 1963
Traffic
Passengers (2012-13[1]) 23,380
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
toward Downsview
 Yonge–University
toward Finch

Osgoode is a subway station on the Yonge–University line in Toronto, Canada. The station, which opened in 1963, is located under University Avenue where it is crossed by Queen Street West and is named for the nearby Osgoode Hall, which honours William Osgoode the province of Ontario's first chief justice. Wi-fi service is available at this station.[2]

History and construction

The station has a centre platform and was constructed using the cut-and-cover method.

When Osgoode Station was built, some utility lines were relocated away from the station to allow for a future "Lower Osgoode" station on the projected but never-built Queen Street subway, but unlike at Lower Queen, no actual construction took place. When it opened, Osgoode, like St. Andrew Station, boasted Vitrolite tiles on its walls.[3] Cracks resulting from the high water table at the station forced the TTC to cover over most of these tiles in the 1970s with vertical panels along the outer walls of the tracks and ceramic tiles on the platform walls.

Wall treatments
Tiles on platform walls
Clad wall on outside of the tracks

Entrances were all built as open stairwells, with the panel above the lintel emblazoned with the scales of justice, which referenced the Superior Court of Justice at Osgoode Hall. Subsequent refurbishment resulted in a generic TTC style replacing the unique symbolism. In 2006 a new entrance, with elevator access to the concourse level, was integrated into the construction of the Four Seasons Centre, at the southeast corner of Queen and University. Along with an elevator to the platform level within the fare paid area, this makes the station fully accessible since 2007.[4] Current plans call for Diamond and Schmitt Architects, who were responsible for the opera house, to design complementary covered entrances at the other three corners of the intersection.[5]

Entrances
Original design of entrance stairwell
Current stairs with generic TTC signage
Four Seasons Centre subway entrance

Unspecified plans also call for the upgrade of the platform level, as part of a program to modernize several older stations.[6]

Nearby landmarks

Nearby landmarks include the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square, Osgoode Hall, the South African War Memorial, 299 Queen Street West, the Canada Life Building and the United States Consulate.

Surface connections

A transfer is required to connect between the subway system and these surface routes:

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. ↑ "Wi-fi Now Available At". TCONNECT. Retrieved January 2015. Each of the 65 underground stations will have wireless and Wi-Fi service by 2017
  3. ↑ University Subway -- Under Construction (Transit Toronto)
  4. ↑ Installation Of Elevators At Osgoode Station
  5. ↑ Retrofit Of Subway/Srt Open Stairway Entrances
  6. ↑ TTC Station Modernization Program

External links

Media related to Osgoode Station at Wikimedia Commons