SkyWalk

SkyWalk
The SkyWalk main arcade facing east towards Union Station.
Coordinates	43°38′39″N 79°23′4″W / 43.64417°N 79.38444°W / 43.64417; -79.38444Coordinates: 43°38′39″N 79°23′4″W / 43.64417°N 79.38444°W / 43.64417; -79.38444
Carries	Pedestrians
Locale	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Characteristics
Design	Skyway
Total length	approx. 500 metres
History
Opened	1989 (parts are from 1929 and 1931)

The SkyWalk is an approximately 500 metre enclosed walkway connecting Union Station to the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre (SkyDome) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the PATH network.

The SkyWalk passes above the York Street 'subway' and the Simcoe Street Tunnel and runs roughly parallel between Front Street and Bremner Boulevard.

History

Designed by the IBI Group,^[1] it opened in 1989 and it was built to connect Union Station with the SkyDome to reduce the need for additional parking spaces near the stadium by providing a direct transportation link to the subway and GO trains. A post-modern curved metal and glass structure, the SkyWalk was the first major construction project in the former railway lands after the CN Tower.^[2] The SkyWalk also connects directly with the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and ends at back of the Ripley's Aquarium of Canada.

The SkyWalk runs through the second and third storey of the Canadian National Express Building, a heritage listed property completed in 1929, which acted as a terminus for horse-drawn carts delivering goods from Union Station.^[1] A GoodLife Fitness occupies the lower floors of the building. Directly adjacent to the Canadian National Express Building and Union Station is the York Street Teamway, running above York Street and is also part of the SkyWalk and also a heritage listed property.^[1]

The SkyWalk will also be home to the terminus station for the Union Pearson Express in 2015.

On 17 July 2014, the Toronto Preservation Board passed a motion recommending that Toronto City Council allow the demolition of the SkyWalk to make way for a 48-storey office and retail tower called Union Centre.^[3]

Connections

The SkyWalk starts at Union Station in the east and terminates at the base of the CN Tower in the west, across from the Rogers Centre and Roundhouse Park.

From east to west:

• Union Station (Toronto)
• York Street Teamway
• Canadian National Express Building
• Union Pearson Express Station
• Passes over the Simcoe Street Tunnel
• Metro Toronto Convention Centre
• Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
• CN Tower
• Rogers Centre
• Roundhouse Park

Gallery

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  The SkyWalk over the railway tracks

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  The location of the original Union Station where the SkyWalk is now

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  The location of the future Union Pearson Express station (2013)

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  The Simcoe Street Tunnel, with the SkyWalk running above it.

See also

• Footbridge
• EdgeWalk
• Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SkyWalk (Toronto).

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Heritage Conservation District Plan, Heritage Toronto
2. ↑ The SkyWalk could come crashing to the ground, BlogTO, 2013
3. ↑ Micallef, Shawn (31 October 2014). "The Skywalk is Toronto’s highway of unrequited victory". Toronto Star. Retrieved 31 October 2014. 

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