O'Connor stop

O'Connor is a surface light rail transit (LRT) stop under construction on Line 5 Eglinton, a new line that is part of the Toronto subway system. It will be located in the Golden Mile neighbourhood at the intersection of Eglinton Avenue and Victoria Park Avenue.[2] It is scheduled to open in 2022.[1]

O'Connor
Looking west from Eglinton Square: The bollards stand along the track/platform alignment
LocationEglinton Ave. E. & Victoria Park Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°43′29″N 79°18′06″W
PlatformsSide platforms
Tracks2
Connections TTC buses
Construction
Structure typeAt grade
Disabled accessYes
Other information
StatusUnder construction
History
Opening2022 (2022)[1]
Services
Preceding station   TTC   Following station
toward Mount Dennis
 Eglinton
(opens 2022)
toward Kennedy

Description

The stop is located in the middle of Eglinton Avenue East between Victoria Park Avenue and Eglinton Square. The stop has parallel side platforms. Access to the stop will be from both platform ends using an adjacent pedestrian crossing at each of two signalized intersections – at Victoria Park Avenue on the west side of the stop and at Eglinton Square on the east side.[2] Nearby, Traction Power Substation 10 is located on the northwest corner of Eglinton and Victoria Park Avenues; it takes electricity from Toronto Hydro and converts it into the current type needed to power Line 5 trains.[3]

Eglinton Square Shopping Centre is situated on the south side of the street. The streets Eglinton Avenue, Eglinton Square and Victoria Park Avenue enclose the triangular Victoria Park – Eglinton Parkette, which is just south of the O'Connor stop.[4]

History
Laying rails at the O'Connor stop

During the planning stages for Line 5 Eglinton, the stop was given the working name "Victoria Park", which is identical to the pre-existing Victoria Park station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth. On November 23, 2015, a report to the TTC Board recommended giving a unique name to each station in the subway system (including Line 5 Eglinton). Thus (despite being an on-street surface stop rather than a full-blown rapid transit station), the LRT stop was renamed "O'Connor" after the nearby O'Connor Drive." Using "Eglinton Square" as the name for the stop would be similar to the pre-existing names for Eglinton station and Eglinton West station, the latter to be renamed to "Cedarvale" to avoid confusion with the former.[5]

In January 2019, the first concrete pour for the surface section of Line 5 occurred at the future O'Connor stop on its Eglinton Square side. Before being encased in concrete, conduit pipes were laid to support communications and power cables for the Crosstown's stations and stops.[6]

Toronto mayor Rob Ford in a 2012 press conference, near the site of the future O'Connor stop, advocating for an underground subway instead of surface LRT

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
24 Victoria Park Northbound to Steeles Avenue East and southbound to Victoria Park station
70 O'Connor Northbound to Pharmacy Avenue and southbound to Coxwell station
924 Victoria Park Express Northbound to Steeles Avenue East and southbound to Victoria Park station

References
  1. Spurr, Ben (February 17, 2020). "Eglinton Crosstown faces another setback, delayed until 2022". Toronto Star. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  2. "Victoria Park Stop". Eglinton Crosstown. May 11, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  3. "Final tunnel pieces removed from Crosstown's Mt. Pleasant station area". Metrolinx. November 5, 2020. Archived from the original on November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  4. "Eglinton Square, Scarborough, ON, Canada". Google Maps. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  5. "Line 5 Eglinton Station Names" (PDF). Board Presentation. Toronto Transit Commission. November 23, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2015. TTC staff evaluated the initial report and the proposed names and provided feedback and recommendations. A primary TTC concern was to avoid replication and redundancy with existing TTC station names. The proposed names are unique and are not likely to be confused with existing station names.
  6. "East Guideway Concrete Pour". Metrolinx. February 15, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  7. "Changes to TTC Bus Routes in Eglinton Corridor for Line 5 Rapid Transit Line" (PDF). Toronto Transit Commission. February 25, 2016.
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