Laird station

Laird is an underground light rail transit (LRT) station under construction on Line 5 Eglinton, a new line that is part of the Toronto subway system.[3] It will be located in the Leaside neighbourhood in East York at the intersection of Laird Drive and Eglinton Avenue. It is scheduled to open in 2022.[2]

Laird
The main entrance will replace this building[1]
LocationEglinton Av/Laird Dr
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°42′48″N 79°21′54″W
PlatformsCentre platform
Tracks2
Connections TTC buses
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
Disabled accessYes
Other information
StatusUnder construction
History
Opening2022 (2022)[2]
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
toward Mount Dennis
 Eglinton
(opens 2022)
toward Kennedy

This station's entrances are both on the south side of Eglinton. The main entrance is at the southwest corner of the Laird Drive intersection replacing a small strip mall and the secondary one is east of that in the Leaside Centre parking lot, just beyond the Pier 1 Imports store.[1]

At Laird station, there will be a third track between the eastbound and westbound tracks either to store a train or to allow a train to change direction due to an emergency or a change in service.[4] Laird station is the last underground station eastbound in the main tunnel; the line will emerge in the Eglinton median about 250m east of Brentcliffe Drive.

Destinations include the many commercial establishments to the southeast: Leaside Centre, the SmartCentres on Laird, and the Leaside Business Park on Eglinton.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne officiated at the ground-breaking for the station on June 30, 2016.[5]

Construction

The underground portion of the station will be constructed by "mining", a technique more formally called sequential excavation method (SEM). Laird, Avenue and Oakwood stations are to be constructed by this method. The other underground stations will be built by cut-and-cover. According to Crosslinx, SEM is more common in Europe and the Crosstown is the first project to use the technique in Toronto.[6]

Laird station will be 489 m (1,604 ft) long because the station structure will contain crossovers and a storage track in addition to boarding platforms. Using cut-and-cover would disrupt about 500 metres of Eglinton Avenue.[6]

At Laird, two shafts were built on the south side of Eglinton Avenue on both the east and west sides of Laird Drive. From the vertical shafts, workers "mine" horizontally towards and above the twin tunnels created by the tunnel boring machines. Large pipe-like sections are used to support the roof of the excavation. Then, workers gradually excavate down to the liners of the twin tunnels, which are removed. When the excavation is finished, there will be a multi-story cavern with a vaulted ceiling. The arch in the ceiling provides strength to hold back the ground above. Walls are sprayed with shotcrete, a special concrete that dries in 10 minutes. Excavation is done slowly, about 1.5 metres per day; mining work proceeds on a 24/7 basis using two crews of ten workers each. Mining is expected to be completed by July 2019.[6]

Surface connections
Main article: List of Toronto Transit Commission bus routes

The following routes would serve this station according to the report presented at the board meeting on February 25, 2016:[7]

Route Name Additional Information
34 Eglinton Westbound to Mount Dennis station and eastbound to Science Centre station
51 Leslie Northbound to Steeles Avenue via Leslie station and southbound to Donlands station
81 Thorncliffe Park Southbound to Pape station [8]
88 South Leaside Westbound to St. Clair station

References
  1. "Laird LRT stop will replace long-time Bagel maker". The South Bayview Bulldog. November 20, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2017. The main entrance will be built on the site of the strip mall on the southwest corner. Across Laird to the east, a second entrance will be built on the parking lot of the RioCan-owned Laird Centre on the southeast corner.
  2. Spurr, Ben (February 17, 2020). "Eglinton Crosstown faces another setback, delayed until 2022 | The Star". Toronto Star. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  3. "Laird Station". Eglinton Crosstown. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  4. "Eglinton Crosstown LRT Updates – July 2017". Metrolinx. July 14, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  5. "Ontario Breaks Ground on Laird Station on Eglinton Crosstown LRT". Government of Ontario. June 30, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2016. Work is beginning on Laird Station, located near the midpoint of the 19-kilometre Light Rail Transit (LRT) line. Construction began in March on Keelesdale, the first underground station. By the end of the summer, more than half of the underground stations on the 25-station line will be under construction.
  6. Spurr, Ben (April 29, 2018). "Underground Eglinton Crosstown LRT stations take shape with unique mining technique". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  7. "Changes to TTC Bus Routes in Eglinton Corridor for Line 5 Rapid Transit Line" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. February 25, 2016.
  8. https://ttc5yearplan.com/faq/#communitybusnetwork
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