The North Yonge Extensions

(Last Modified on April 21, 2012 3:50 PM)

North Yonge Map

Text by James Bow.

Public Transit on Yonge Street

The Subway Pushes North on Yonge

By 1966, the City of Toronto had achieved the goals it had established for itself twenty years earlier when residents approved subway construction. With the opening of the Bloor-Danforth subway from Keele to Woodbine, Toronto had two subways running along two of its major thoroughfares, forming a cross in the centre of the city. As these goals were being realized, however, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto entered a particularly raucous time in terms of politics, and the Toronto Transit Commission was one of the battlegrounds.

In the 1960s, the Toronto Transit Commission had fallen on hard times. Just ten years earlier, the TTC was paying for its operating costs and capital expenses (including the original Yonge subway) entirely from farebox revenues. However, the costs of serving the rapid low-density growth throughout Metropolitan Toronto and the loss of the TTC’s passenger base to the automobile was putting the commission further and further into deficit. The TTC required provincial and municipal subsidy in order to open the Bloor-Danforth subway in 1966.

As the Metro’s subsidy to the TTC increased, so too did Metro Council’s controls over the TTC’s priorities, and in the 1960s, that council was divided on what the TTC’s next priorities should be. The City of Toronto councillors favoured the construction of a subway under Queen Street, while the suburbs wanted improved bus services and the elimination of the zone fare system that required suburban residents to pay a higher fare when travelling downtown. The debates in council were particularly loud, and the boroughs of North York and Etobicoke once went so far as to seek a court injunction to have Metro’s subsidy of the TTC dropped when Metro Council voted against the two boroughs’ preferences.

In order to “maintain an uninterrupted program of subway construction”, Metro Chairman Frederick Gardiner discovered that it was politically easier to extend the established subway lines into the suburbs than it was to get Metro Council to agree over the construction of a new line. Extending the established lines was cheaper than building from scratch, and it fulfilled some of the suburban municipalities’ demands for improved transit service. For this reason, approval was granted in the early 1960s to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway west to Islington in Etobicoke and east to Warden in Scarborough. As these extensions were being built, attention turned to the northern suburbs.

Although it was politically expedient to extend the Yonge subway into North York, the idea itself had considerable merit. Traffic on Yonge Street north of Eglinton was heavy. Directly to the north of the terminal, the old town of North Toronto surrounded Yonge Street with densities approximating that which surrounded the Yonge line south of Eglinton. And although densities dropped off sharply north of Yonge Boulevard (near the City of Toronto/Borough of North York boundary and old Glen Echo loop), the Borough of North York was growing rapidly, and had hopes of developing its own downtown core near the Yonge/Sheppard intersection.

The first appearance of the North Yonge extension was in the draft Metropolitan Official Plan in 1959 which suggested an extension from Eglinton to Sheppard. The proposal actually took a back seat to plans for a rapid transit line built in conjunction with the Spadina Expressway, but was reenergized by a $20,000 study requested by North York and authorized by Metro Council on March 7, 1961. In 1964, Metro council commissioned a further study by the TTC and the first serious designs started appearing in 1965. On September 16, 1965, the Metro Planning Report recommended that the Yonge extension replace Spadina as the next priority for subway construction. With considerable uncertainty over the alignment of the Spadina Expressway, it would have proven difficult to establish a final route for the corresponding subway early, and keep subway construction going without interruption. Metro Council approved the extension of the Yonge line from Eglinton to Sheppard Avenue on January 25, 1967.

Alignment Proposals

York Mills station Platform Level

The platform level of York Mills station. Photo by David Cavlovic.

The first serious study of the North Yonge extension proposal, published in June 1961, looked at taking the line from Eglinton Avenue all the way to Steeles. That study recommended an alignment east of Yonge Street and crossing the west branch of the Don River in Hogg’s Hollow via a low-level bridge. It was recommended that construction take place in two phases, first to Sheppard Avenue in 1970 (by which time it was expected that the Spadina Expressway and its associated subway would be operating) with the Sheppard-Steeles section to be started in 1980. The cost estimate for the 6.42 mile line was set at $100,600,000 in 1961 dollars and suggested stations at Glencairn, Lawrence, Yonge Boulevard (Glen Echo), York Mills, Sheppard, Empress, Finch, Cummer and Steeles.

The TTC study, conducted in 1964, bears closer resemblance to what was actually built. Here, the TTC suggested that money could be saved by eliminating the ‘mid-block’ stations at Glencairn, Yonge Boulevard and Empress,and paralleling the subway with a bus service for local travel. The report placed the initial terminus at Sheppard Avenue and suggested an alignment paralleling Yonge Street to the west, with a half-mile long, high-level bridge over the Don Valley west branch at Hogg’s Hollow, including an elevated York Mills station, a “significant and architectural and engineering achievement”. The report did not endorse an extension of the subway to Steeles Avenue, as the sewer and water systems in Markham and Vaughan Townships were inadequate for the development that the subway would stimulate.

At this time, the North Yonge project ran into some controversy. Local ratepayers objected to the loss of as many as 275 homes and to the potential noise disturbance along the route. The proposal for a high level bridge was also attacked by a small group of local residents, fearing damage to their property values (despite the fact that Highway 401 was close by, with multiple bridges over the valley apparently not affecting their property values). As a result of these concerns, a tunnel alignment was chosen directly beneath Yonge Street (with a few exceptions). Although this saved $1.6 million in estimated property acquisition costs, this savings was negated by the challenges of tunnelling under the Don River.

As this was happening, the TTC’s financial problems continued. In 1967, Metro council agreed to abolish municipal taxes on rapid transit property, which saved the TTC an additional $1.7 million per year. This money was applied towards the cost of construction. The final plan was approved by the Ontario Municipal Board in 1967 and construction began on October 3, 1968. The cost of the 4.02-mile route was assessed at $79.6 million, with an opening date tentatively set as sometime in 1972.

On October 17, 1969, Metro Council agreed to a further extension of the Yonge subway, from Sheppard to Finch Avenue. The extension was sparked by the presence of the Ontario Hydro right-of-way lands two blocks to the north of Finch Avenue, and the potential placement of large commuter parking lots on these lands. The Ontario Municipal Board approved this extension in 1970 and construction began in 1971, adding $37.5 million to the project. This extension to the North Yonge extension would feature one station at Finch Avenue, despite lobbying from North York that a second station be constructed at Park Home Avenue (the Empress station referred to before, and the site of the proposed North York Civic Centre). Although a level section was designed into the line at this point, where a station could be added, the TTC would refuse the request to build this station until the mid 1980s, when construction began on North York Centre station. Finch station was set to open in 1973. Of the $140,000,000 cost of the extension, $11,000,000 was paid for by the TTC out of its farebox revenues.

Designing the Extension

Yonge subway Construction, north of Eglinton

Construction of the Yonge subway immediately north of Eglinton station. Note the trolley bus on Yonge Street. Photo courtesy of the TTC

The North Yonge extension began at Eglinton station, where cut-and-cover construction was used immediately north of Eglinton station. Here, crossovers lead into a stub-ended tail track installed between the two service tracks for use as train storage and turn-back operation. The tail track itself, and the two running tracks on either side of it, are in tunnels and the tail track is only the second one on the TTC to be dead ended (the other one being immediately south of Osgoode station). The line angles slightly east until it gets beneath Yonge Street and from here, tunnelling was used. Cut-and-cover was used from Limpstone Avenue to Ranleigh to handle the construction of Lawrence station and a scissors crossover to the south of the station.

Lawrence station bus terminal

The underground Lawrence station bus terminal. Photo by Ted Wickson

Lawrence station became the first station in Toronto’s subway network to feature an underground bus transfer facility. The entrances to this bus tunnel were built to the west of Yonge Street, with one of the entrances replacing a side street’s exit onto Lawrence Avenue. Twin tunnels allowed buses to enter both ways at both entrances, eliminating all left turns off Lawrence Avenue. The buses drive on the left in the tunnels, allowing a single central platform to serve all routes. An effective ventilation system prevents the build-up of exhaust fumes and a snow-melting cable prevents icing on the sloped driveways. The entrance to Lawrence Avenue as well as the bus transfer facility are located off the southern end of the subway platform. The northern end of the platform is connected with an unmanned secondary entrance from Bedford Park Avenue.

North of Lawrence station, the line continues in tunnel for almost 4000 feet to Mill Street, at the southern edge of Hogg’s Hollow. Hogg’s Hollow and the presence of the Don River west branch near the Yonge/Wilson/York Mills intersection provided a number of challenges for the subway designers to overcome. Construction proceeded after TTC engineers temporarily redirected the Don River through a ‘box-flume’ and drained the surrounding land. Construction here was through the cut-and-cover technique (after the line has angled east of Yonge Street). The walls of the structure had to be made 1.2 metres thick (four feet) while the floors were made 2.4 metres thick (7.2 feet). By comparison, the standard underground station structure’s walls are 0.5 metres thick while the floors are 0.6 metres thick. The TTC describes York Mills station as “a concrete island that ‘floats’ below the Don River West Branch.” (Specifically, it is actually the exit off the southern end of the platform that extends beneath the river)

In addition to the main entrance off York Mills Road and Wilson Avenue, located off the north end of the platform, a secondary entrance to Old York Mills Road was installed, connected to the southern end of the subway platform. South of the station, a long siding allows trains to cross from the northbound and southbound tracks, and vice versa, instead of a double crossover. North of York Mills, the line proceeds through 5162 feet of twin tunnel to Johnston Avenue, after which 1249 feet of cut-and-cover take in Sheppard station and a double crossover located to the south of the station. Sheppard has a main exit onto Sheppard Avenue, with a secondary entrance onto Poyntz Avenue.

Tunnel construction from Sheppard to Finch was handled in the traditional cut-and-cover technique to save money. The TTC briefly gave consideration to a double-deck structure (one track over the other) but decided instead to go with the conventional structure of tracks side by side. Over 7000 feet of cut-and-cover construction took the subway north from Harlandale Avenue and included Finch station, a double crossover to the south of the station, and a triple tail track located to the north of the station.

Lawrence was the only one of the North Yonge extension’s original four stations designed with a direct transfer between buses and the subway. This was because Lawrence station was the only station of the four to be built within Zone 1 of Metropolitan Toronto’s two-zone fare system. With all of the subway considered to be within Zone 1, passengers transferring from buses at York Mills, Sheppard and Finch would have to pay an additional fare in order to continue their ride on the subway or show a Zone 1 transfer, if they had paid with a combination ticket. The zonal fare system may have been abolished by the time the extension opened, but the influence remained.

Both Finch and Sheppard stations had long corridors connecting the subway platforms to the bus terminals and, in the case of Sheppard, secondary exits to the street ran off both sides of these corridors. While Finch station’s corridor was opened as a fare-paid zone without much difficulty, Sheppard station’s entrances would have to have fare barriers installed should the paid fare area be expanded to cover the bus terminal. So, Sheppard was forced to use paper transfers. During the 1990s its bus terminal was made into a separate fare-paid zone using a manned barrier, but only on weekday afternoons and the evening rush hour. At these busy times passengers from the subway would show their transfers at a booth and not to the bus driver, allowing bus boarding using all doors. Finally, on June 16, 2002, a few months before the Sheppard Line would open, the main fare-paid zone was extended to include the bus terminal, with new automatic turnstiles provided for the Harlandale Avenue entrance.

Mezzanine Level

The long fare control concourse at Finch station, looking south.

York Mills also required paper transfers to connect between bus and subway until the mid 1990s, when the bus terminal (located at the northeast corner of the Yonge/York Mills intersection) was rebuilt beneath an office tower complex set up on the site. York Mills station also became the site of a GO Transit/Gray Coach bus terminal, serving bus routes running east and west via the 401 as well as an express bus to Pearson Airport. Gray Coach would eventually become Greyhound, and its service to York Mills station evaporated (with the Airport Express disappearing in the year 2000, with the company upset at the TTC’s competition with the service).

At Finch station, a new regional terminal was built, providing a connection between the subway and transit agencies operating north on Yonge Street. The station also became the site of a huge commuter parking lot, built onto the Hydro right-of-way, which intercepts thousands of car drivers heading into Toronto, moving them onto the subway and the promise of a 28-minute ride to Union station.

The tile patterns for the station departed from the two-tone trim that had been used on most of the previous subway stations. What became the interim and permanent terminal stations (York Mills and Finch respectively) were covered in a green-blue and grey motif, respectively. Green-blue or grey tiles displaying the station names were mixed with patches of larger blue or grey tiles. The intermediate stations of Lawrence and Sheppard were predominantly yellow, and were accented with red and dark blue ceramic tiles respectively.

Strikes Delay Opening.

Bedford Park Entrance

A long way down at Lawrence and a long way up at York Mills. The North Yonge stations featured almost as many escalators as the original Yonge subway. (Above photo by David Cavlovic; photo below by Ted Wickson)

Long Escalators

The North Yonge extension project was plagued with problems, including lengthy labor strikes, quicksand at Teddington Park Avenue and wet soil conditions in Hogg’s Hollow. With the extension months behind schedule, the decision was made to open the line as far as York Mills on March 31, 1973, instead of to Sheppard as had been originally proposed. The remainder of the line would open on March 30, 1974 (the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the original Yonge subway). Even with this measure taken, York Mills and Lawrence had to open with eight planned escalators uninstalled between them, mostly at the proposed secondary entrances. As these stations were the deepest in Toronto’s subway system, the TTC decided not to open these secondary entrances until the escalators were installed, which was as late as June.

The public was invited to opening ceremonies at Lawrence and York Mills station on Friday, March 30, 1973 to celebrate the extension of the subway to York Mills. Elaborate ceremonies had marked the subway’s entry into Scarborough and Etobicoke in 1968 and it would not do, politically, for North York to receive anything less at this opening. Almost 400 invited guests and officials gathered at Eglinton station around 2:00 p.m. to board a train of 6 H-2 cars (5540-45) with a sign saying “Official Opening - Yonge subway Extension” placed on front. Toronto Mayor David Crombie guided the special train through a banner draped across the tracks at Eglinton station reading “Get Ready - North York, Here Comes the subway”. The train proceeded to Lawrence station where it was met by a throng of people, including North York Mayor Mel Lastman, who together with Mayor Crombie activated a symbolic signal to send the train on to York Mills.

Mel Lastman took over the controls at this point and operated the train to York Mills, where speeches were given to another large crowd of people. Among the speakers were Ontario Premier William Davis and the Minister of Transportation and Communications, Gordon Canton. The train departed York Mills with its VIPs at 3:30 p.m. but Lawrence and York Mills stations remained open to the public for the afternoon. The subway opened to normal service at 6:00 a.m. the next day.

Changes Resulting from the Opening

The opening of the Yonge subway to York Mills resulted in the abandonment of trolley coaches on Yonge Street. The 97 Yonge trolley bus line, installed one month before the Yonge subway opened to Eglinton in 1954, had been operating ever since that time, providing local service on Yonge Street from Eglinton to Glen Echo loop. The 59 North Yonge bus, which had replaced the North Yonge Railways interurban line to Richmond Hill in 1948, had run express south of Glen Echo Loop, but now terminated at York Mills. The new Yonge bus route, which maintained the same number as the trolley coach route, was extended north to end at Sheppard Avenue, while a branch opened along Yonge Boulevard, terminating at York Mills station. This replaced the Wilson bus route’s operations on Yonge Boulevard. Until 1973, Wilson buses had used Yonge Boulevard to access the terminal facilities at Glen Echo, but now they ran to York Mills Station.

Glen Echo Loop in the 1920s

Glen Echo loop in its heyday, when it was referred to as North Toronto Terminal. Photo courtesy of the TTC.

With the opening of the subway to York Mills, Glen Echo Loop was declared surplus and abandoned. This loop, on the boundary between the City of Toronto and the Borough of North York, had a long history with the TTC, opening in the early 1920s as the northern terminal of the Yonge streetcar line and the southern terminal of interurbans arriving from the communities north of the city. From 1954 until 1973, it acted as the terminal for the 97 Yonge trolley bus route and a number of other suburban routes. With these suburban routes now using the terminals at York Mills station, there was no reason to maintain the loop. Gray Coach used the facility as its North Toronto terminal until the opening of the subway to Finch. When these buses moved out, the facilities were abandoned, demolished, and the land redeveloped.

When the Yonge subway was extended to Finch Avenue, one year later, the 97 Yonge bus was extended to Steeles Avenue, and the North Yonge bus was cut back to Finch station. It would not be long before the North Yonge operations were taken over by GO Transit and operated out of the new regional terminal constructed at Finch station.

Initially, service on the North Yonge extension was lighter than on the remainder of the Yonge line. During rush hours, every second train turned back at Eglinton station, likely through the use of the tail track at the north end of that station. When the Spadina subway opened in 1978, rush hour operation of the Yonge-University-Spadina line was handled as though there were two separate but overlapping subway lines, with one leg operating from Eglinton to Wilson and the other operating from Finch to St. Clair West station. The Eglinton short turn service officially ended in the early 1980s, but in practice, trains were often turned back at Eglinton Avenue in order to maintain service levels. It was only after the retirement of the Gloucesters that service on the North Yonge extension regularly matched that of the original Yonge line.

Changes Since the Opening

York Mills bus terminal

A GM rebuild inside the new York Mills bus terminal (above - photo by David Cavlovic). Below, the original bus terminal is shown for comparison (photo by Ted Wickson)

Original York Mills bus terminal

As was previously mentioned, when the TTC eliminated its two-zone fare structure, efforts were made to create direct transfers between buses and the subway. This was done quickly at Finch station, but it required the construction of a new office complex to spur changes at York Mills station. In 1986, a mid-block station opened between Finch and Sheppard at the site of the long proposed Empress or Park Home station mentioned before, serving the North York Civic Centre and appropriately named North York Centre.

But by far the biggest change to the North Yonge extension is being brought about through construction of the Sheppard subway. Sheppard station was heavily renovated, with a direct transfer between buses and the subway established, and signage consistent with the Sheppard line installed. Signs now identify the station as “SHEPPARD-YONGE” instead of just “SHEPPARD”. Stairwells connecting the Yonge platform with the two side platforms of the Sheppard line station were also built, along with new exits to serve additional development in the area.

There is no doubting the North Yonge extension’s usefulness to Toronto’s subway network. For as long as anyone can remember, Yonge Street has been a major street not just for Toronto, but to the communities to the north of the city. The Metropolitan interurban took passengers from North Toronto all the way to the shores of Lake Simcoe, and the North Yonge Railways were a major operation serving the townships of North York, Vaughan, Markham and the town of Richmond Hill until 1948. It was only a matter of time before the Yonge subway pushed into this territory. Today, Finch station is the entry point for thousands of commuters daily, driving or riding in from homes in southern York Region. Plans are on the books to extend the line to Steeles Avenue, either as a prelude to a connection with the Spadina subway at York University, or as a prelude to further extensions up Yonge Street, into York Region itself. Recently, Markham and Richmond Hill have put forward a proposal for a $660 million extension to Highway 407.

The subway extension also gave a significant boost to North York’s dreams of building its own downtown core near the Yonge/Sheppard intersection. This allowed a sleepy borough to transform itself into a major urban centre in its own right - a fact the TTC recognized when it agreed to build North York Centre station between Sheppard and Finch, and further enhanced with the opening of the Sheppard subway.

The opening of the Yonge subway from Union station to Eglinton in 1954 was a defining moment for public transportation in the City of Toronto. The extension of the Yonge line to Finch not only doubled the length of the subway up Yonge Street, but reconfirmed the line’s importance in Toronto’s transportation network.

Other North Yonge Images

Eglinton station concourse

Concourse level of Eglinton station, looking north. The old exit to Yonge St before the opening of the extension to York Mills was located to the right and slightly north of the escalator in the right foreground.

Lawrence station fare barrier

The Lawrence station’s main entrance.

Rebuilt York Mills Mezzanine

This is a picture of the mezzanine at the north end of York Mills station. The fare collection zone has been renovated to include a new tunnel to a new bus terminal. Photo by David Cavlovic.

York Mills station Bus Terminal

The new bus terminal at York Mills, inside an office tower. Photo by David Cavlovic.

Sheppard Mezzanine

Sheppard station. Mezzanine fare control zone looking towards the stairs and escalators to the subway level. Photo by David Cavlovic.

Sheppard Platform

A southbound T-1 enters Sheppard Station. Note the new signboard being built above the platform lip. This design is in common with the stations on the Sheppard line. Photo by David Cavlovic.

Sheppard Construction

Sheppard station was designed to handle 30000 passengers daily, and the Sheppard subway connection is designed to improve that. In the meantime, construction hampers the station. Photo by David Cavlovic.

Pulling in

An out-of-service H5 pulls into the northbound track at Finch from the middle tail track north of the station.

Mezzanine Level

The Finch station bus terminal.

Mezzanine Level

The walkway between TTC buses and trains at Finch. Notice the token-and-metropass-only entrance to Yonge at the left.

Next see the Spadina subway.

Thanks to Mark Brader for his assistance in correcting this article.

References

  • Bromley, John F., and Jack May, Fifty Years of Progressive Transit, Electric Railroaders’ Association, New York (New York), 1978.
  • Wickson, Ted, ‘Yonge Subway - Northern Extension’, UCRS Newsletter, March/April 1973, p35, The Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto (Ontario).
  • Yonge Subway Extension Progress Report - York Mills to Finch, Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto (Ontario), 1973.
  • Yonge Subway Extension To York Mills - March 31, 1973, Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto (Ontario), 1973.

« A History of Subways on Bloor and Queen Streets | Home | Subway Main Page | The Spadina Subway »

Search Transit Toronto

Powered by GOOGLE.

Transit Toronto Subway-Related Articles

Welcome to the Transit Toronto subway pages. This section of the web site features articles relating to Toronto's subway operations, past, present and future. You can find articles grouped within the following categories:

About this Page

This page is an article within the Subway division of Transit Toronto articles.

To see more articles within the Subway division, you may return to the Subway division page.

You can also return to the main page for news and other articles in Transit Toronto.