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Long a crossroads of transportation and cultures on Toronto's west side, Mount Dennis is poised to become a key transit hub with the anticipated opening of Eglinton Line 5 later this year. Anchored at the intersection of Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue West, this neighbourhood in the former Borough of York has been undergoing major construction since 2011. Now, work on both the Mount Dennis station, the initial western terminus of the new light rail line, and its accompanying maintenance and storage facility, is largely complete. On opening day, however, the area will undergo its most significant bus network overhaul in decades, as both city-wide routes and local neighbourhood services will be rerouted to connect seamlessly with Eglinton Line 5.
Despite its firmly central location within the Greater Toronto Area of today, Mount Dennis was not always so urban. Once the heart of the rural Township of York, the neighbourhood of Mount Dennis sat at the important intersection of Weston and Eglinton. Weston Road, carving its way northwest from St Clair Avenue, once linked the Old City of Toronto with the former Town of Weston, connected for decades by the now-defunct Weston Road streetcar line. Eglinton Avenue West, long before the days of Little Jamaica, was the primary route for those travelling between the historically independent municipalities of York, Forest Hill, North Toronto and Leaside.
As Toronto rapidly spread into the towns and villages of its hinterlands, these formerly rural areas saw large booms in both population and industry. The TTC wisely expanded the range and frequency of its operations within these new suburbs, and as a result the various bus lines that run through Mount Dennis are some of the GTA's busiest. For example, the 935/35 Jane bus and 989/89 Weston bus together carried well over 50,000 riders a day in 2023, exceeding the ridership of many rapid transit systems across North America.
Plans for rapid transit along Eglinton Avenue have long prioritized serving Mount Dennis and its crucial transportation links. Infamously abandoned plans for the Eglinton West Subway in the 1990's envisioned the neighbourhood as the initial western terminus of the line, to be known as "York Centre station". Rezonings for greater density were completed along the corridor, and construction even began on the new subway before a change in provincial government saw the project cancelled and existing excavation filled in.
Despite historic setbacks, long awaited rapid transit is set to reach Mount Dennis within the next year, and as such the TTC has redesigned its bus network to optimize network operations and rider experience, following the opening of Eglinton Line 5. Mount Dennis station is set to become a major bus, rapid transit and regional rail interchange, similar to Kipling Station at the western terminus of Bloor Line 2. The following outlines every route cancellation, extension, creation, and rerouting planned for the neighbourhood following the opening of Eglinton Line 5:
The Trunk Lines
35 Jane: Beginning at Pioneer Village station on University Line 1, the 35 will retain its current routing until reaching Eglinton Avenue West, at which point it will travel along Eglinton Avenue West to reach Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5, its new southern terminus. The route will no longer travel south of Eglinton Avenue West along Jane Street to Jane station on Bloor Line 2.
935 Jane Express: The express variant of the Jane bus will continue to operate from Jane station on Bloor Line 2 to Pioneer Village station on University Line 1. However, it will now detour along Eglinton Avenue West to reach Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5, before looping back and resuming its route along Jane Street.
27 Jane: A new route, the 27 Jane will take over the 35 Jane's current corridor south of Eglinton Avenue, providing local service from Jane station on Bloor Line 2 to Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5.
989/89 Weston: The Weston bus and its express variant will remain largely unchanged, with the exception of Weston Road between Eglinton Avenue West and Black Creek Drive. 989 and 89 buses will now divert both ways along Eglinton Avenue West and Black Creek Drive to serve Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5, before resuming their regular routes along Weston Road.
The Eglinton Buses
34 Eglinton East: To be renamed the 34 Eglinton, the route will extend to provide local service across the entirety of Eglinton Line 5's length, from Weston Road in the west, to Kennedy Road in the east. Frequencies will be drastically reduced in acknowledgment of the mass ridership shift to the faster and more reliable LRT.
32 Eglinton West: The route's new eastern terminus will be Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5, as opposed to the current eastern terminus at Yonge Station on Yonge Line 1. The 32 will run westward to Renforth station in Mississauga, retaining high frequencies in anticipation of the opening of the Eglinton Line 5 West Extension in a few years' time.
32D Eglinton West: This branch of the 32 Eglinton West will be replaced by an extension of the 73b Royal York bus. It will begin at Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5, travel along Eglinton Avenue West, Jane Street, Emmett Avenue and La Rose Avenue before heading down Royal York Road to Royal York station on Bloor Line 2.
The Neighbourhood Connectors
71 Runnymede: The Runnymede bus will retain the overwhelming majority of its routing, seeing a minor reduction at its northern end in order to directly connect with Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5. It will no longer serve Industry Street and Todd Baylis Boulevard, with the 171 Mt Dennis bus assuming its role on this corridor.
171 Mt Dennis: This route will transition out of its current role as a de-facto Mount Dennis garage employee shuttle, and instead serve the residential neighbourhoods to the southwest of Mount Dennis station. The 171 will cease to serve Jane Street (between Weston Road and Trethewey Drive) and Trethewey Drive, instead taking over the western portion of the current 161 Rogers Road corridor on Alliance Avenue, Humber Boulevard, Cliff Street, Louvain Street, Rockcliffe Boulevard, Lambton Avenue and Jane Street between Lambton Avenue and Alliance Boulevard before connecting with Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5.
161 Rogers Road: The portion of the 161 bus west of Weston Road will be taken over by the 171 Mt Dennis bus, and the 161 will instead be rerouted along Black Creek Drive to directly connect with Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5.
168 Symington: The 168 bus currently ends at Avon Loop, located at Rogers Road and Weston Road, but it will be extended north to Mount Dennis station on Eglinton Line 5. The Avon Loop will be without a dedicated route for the first time in its history and formally be mothballed.
Buses and Eglinton Line 5 won’t be the only new transit options serving Mount Dennis station; new stations on both the Kitchener GO line and the Union-Pearson Express have been built at this emerging regional hub too. Opening alongside Eglinton Line 5, these additions will offer riders a 15-minute trip to Pearson Airport and under 20 minutes to Union Station. With UPX trains arriving every 15 minutes and GO trains every 30, the level of connectivity coming to this long-disinvested neighbourhood will be transformative.
Improved frequencies and electrified service has long been planned for the Kitchener GO line, which if completed, will only further cement Mount Dennis station as an integral node in Toronto's regional and rapid transit network. Metrolinx’s recent termination of Deutsche Bahn’s contract, originally tasked with leading GO Transit’s shift from a commuter system to full regional rail, has cast serious doubt over these upgrades. The agency now says it intends to deliver only a “minimum viable product” with the tens of billions of public dollars already committed to the project.
This article is the second in a series examining the planned bus service changes accompanying the opening of Eglinton Line 5, with a line-by-line breakdown of the adjustments in each affected neighbourhood. You can find our previous story on Eglinton Avenue East here. UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on Eglinton Line 5, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database files, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum threads or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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