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As work continues on the Toronto Transit Commission’s Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension, UrbanToronto is checking in on how each of the six stations on the extension are progressing. Today we travel beyond the City of Toronto limits to check out station no. 5, an important one for future bus connections across the northern GTA—Highway 407 Station.
Along with extension terminus at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, Highway 407 Station will be the first TTC subway stop to exist entirely outside of the City of Toronto, instead residing in the City of Vaughan in York Region. Upon the opening of the extension, TTC subway trains will cross north of Steeles Avenue for the first time, serving a direct connection between Toronto and Vaughan, and a more convenient access point for commuters travelling from the York Region and beyond.
Highway 407 Station is situated on the west side of Jane Street opposite Beechwood Cemetery, and just south of—you called it—Highway 407. It's a spot that many people consider to be in the 'middle of nowhere', but the station has been designed to be convenient for commuters other than those who walk into a station, making it's location more like a typical GO station.
The boomerang-shaped main building of Highway 407 Station will serve as both the bus terminal and sole entrance to the station. Described as a “multi-modal transportation hub”, the station will provide bus connections for YRT and GO Transit; no current TTC bus routes are expected to use the station. The station will also feature a 600-space parking lot and a 14-space Passenger Pick-up and Drop-off area. As well, there will be short-term bicycle parking available. Finally, the station is planned to link with the future MTO Highway 407 Transitway, a seven-stop bus-only roadway. This connection should add an estimated 3,300 commuters transferring to Highway 407 Station in the morning peak period by 2031.
With construction taking place on the west bank of the Black Creek river, the TTC has built a bridge off Jane Street that will serve as the main access for cars entering and exiting the station.
Across the bridge, one can already see the structure for the bus terminal taking shape. The west wing of the terminal in particular is coming along nicely, with a section of the roof and columns in place.
The architectural team for Highway 407 Station is a three-way collaboration: Toronto-based AECOM as the prime consultant for engineering and architecture, London-based Aedas for the design architecture, and New York-based Parsons Brinckerhoff as the design engineers. If those names sound familiar, it is because this is the same team working on Downsview Park Station.
The station box itself is still very much open (above), and the structure that will hold the subway box skylight has become visible (below).
The station art will be thanks to artist David Pearl, who specializes in enamel treatments on glass. As such, the station will feature the aforementioned, oval-shaped skylight facing Jane Street and will allow natural light on the subway platform. There will also be glass façade on the western end of the bus terminal. These treated glass windows will change colour depending on the direction of the sunlight.
Highway 407 Station is expected to open with the rest of the extension in Fall 2016. However, TTC CEO Andy Byford has recently hinted that the opening may be delayed further to 2017.
To learn more about Highway 407 station, please click on our dataBase file, linked below, for several more renderings and other information. Want to talk about the station? You can join the conversation in the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
