Project Summary: Ontario Line
- transitthinker
- Aug 11, 2021
- 5 min read
By: Jamie Kauri
About
The Ontario Line is a planned rapid transit line for Toronto originally planned to be Toronto's Relief Line subway (the routes have their differences). The purpose of both the Relief and Ontario Line's is quite similar which is to relieve portions of Line 1 and 2 in the downtown area as subways and stations such as Bloor-Yonge can be extremely packed. The Ontario Line will be branded as Line 3 according to a 2031 Subway & Streetcar map put out by the TTC.
Route Alignment & Stops
North Segment
In the northern section of the line there are five proposed stations, two of which are interchange stations. Science Centre Station will be the northern terminus of the line and will connect to Line 5 Eglinton. Going south along an elevated guideway. Flemingdon Park Station located on Don Mills Rd in between St. Dennis Dr and Gateway Blvd will provide much better access to the Ontario Science Centre than Science Centre station. Continuing South the line will make a turn and go over the Don River and approach the Ontario Line’s Maintenance & Storage Facility before going south to Overlea Blvd. The Ontario Line will make a stop at Thorncliffe Park Station located at Thorncliffe Park Dr. The Line will then go over a new bridge to go over the Don Valley before going into a tunnel portal to travel underneath Pape. Once underground trains will make stops at Cosburn and Pape stations. At Pape a connection will be made with Line 2 Bloor-Danforth.
East Segment
The eastern portion of the line has been a centre of controversy surrounding the Ontario Line due to plans that would mean destroying parts of Jimmie Simpson Park and Community Centre, but these plans have been modified to make sure the line doesn't negatively impact nearby parks or community centres. Residents of the Leslieville and Riverside community have also been worried about noise from trains but Metrolinx has plans to use noise barriers and other noise reduction methods to reduce noise pollution. Trees and other plants will also be used for noise reduction and to make a nicer environment. Almost all of the trains in the corridor will be electric and since electric trains are significantly quieter the noise from trains won't be as bad.
The eastern portion of the line will have three stations: Gerrard, Leslieville and East Harbor. Gerrard Station will be above the intersection of Gerrard and Carlaw. The station will have two entrances on the north-east and south-west corners. The station will also bring more park space. Leslieville Station at Queen Street near Jimmy Simpson Park will have a connection to the 501 Queen Streetcar. East Harbor is also a future transit hub in the very east of downtown with connections to GO Transit’s Lakeshore East and Stouffville train lines and a future Broadview Streetcar line.
Most of this segment will technically be at-grade but will be fully grade separated because it uses a raised rail corridor.
Downtown Segment
The downtown portion of the line will go from Corktown Station to Osgoode Station. After East Harbour Station the Ontario Line will go over the Don River using a new bridge and then go into a tunnel portal before getting to Corktown. This portion of the line will have four stations and two interchanges with Line 1. In between Front and King just west of Parliament Corktown Station will be built. Corktown Station will be built under the first Parliament Site. Going to Sherbourne and Queen Moss Park will be getting a station. At Queen Station the line is planned to make use of tunnels that had been built in the 50's for a planned east-west subway on Queen. Both Queen Station and Osgoode Station will provide connections to Line 1. I think a station at the intersection of Cherry and Lakeshore would be worth considering both as a connection to the eastern portion of the Distillery District but also as an easy way to get to Cherry Beach, Villiers Island and more in the area. A station at Cherry would also connect to Waterfront East and Cherry Street Streetcars. The Distance between the proposed Corktown Station at Berkeley and King would still be about 800 meters away from Cherry street which is long enough to justify two stations.
West Segment
The western segment includes stations at Queen & Spadina, King & Bathurst and Exhibition. From the route alignment images it looks like there will be a tail track west of Exhibition to Dufferin Street. Similar to the eastern segment the Ontario Line will utilize GO Transit’s Lakeshore West corridor. The Ontario Line will run along the surface from Exhibition to just west of Strachan where it will go into a tunnel portal, the line will then travel underground in a North/East direction until Queen making stops at King & Bathurst and Queen & Spadina. From there the line will continue beneath Queen St. Although a bit close to King I think a station at Fort York/Garrison Common would be a nice addition to the line as there is a lot of new development, a nice park and a historical site (not to mention the number of existing condos and parks plus the waterfront).
Maintenance & Storage Facility (MSF)
The Ontario Line MSF will be located south of the CP tracks and in between Millwood Dr and Beth Nealson Dr. The MSF location received a fair bit of criticism at the Ontario Line Thorncliffe Park / Flemington Park open house that was held in April 2021 due to the fact that a popular grocery store as well as a mosque will need to be destroyed/relocated to accommodate the MSF. Metrolinx has made it clear that they will be providing fair market value compensation for affected businesses as well as relocating when needed. Metrolinx considered multiple locations for an MSF including a MSF at the TTC's Greenwood yard.
Rolling Stock
So far a vehicle to operate on the line has not been decided but Metrolinx intends to use
automated light metro type trains. Metrolinx has confirmed that the Ontario Line will be
using platform screen doors. It's possible that the trains will be Alstom's Metropolis trains that will be going into service on Montreal's Réseau Express Métropolitain assuming they do well in Montréal.
Map of the Line
Map Showing connections offered by the Ontario Line
Future Extensions
The Ontario Line has a proposed extension to Don Mills Station at Don Mills & Sheppard. The extension would likely be elevated above Don Mills Rd given how wide the street is. If GO Transit ever extends train service to operate on the CP Belleville Corridor a station at the tracks going over Don Mills on the Northern extension would be very likely.
Although there are no other extensions planned for the Ontario Line some possible extensions include: another northern extension to Steeles or farther north into York Region, an eastward extension along Sheppard replacing the Sheppard subway extension, An extra 1-2 KM's to Ontario Place because Ontario Place will be redeveloped. I personally think a North-West Extension either going from Exhibition to High Park and then going north along Parkside, Keele, Dundas & Jane then going along the Georgetown South Corridor to Pearson Airport would be interesting, it could also be redundant, (this will likely be a topic of future post).
As I mentioned, stations such as Garrison Common and Cherry can also be added in the future.
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