Donlands Station
Project overview
Donlands Station on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth has officially become the TTC’s 55th station in the subway system to receive accessible upgrades. As of August 8, 2024, the Donlands Station Second Entrance / Exit building and elevators are now in service. Restoration and finishing work on the sites are still ongoing.
Two brand-new elevators now connect street level to the subway platform level, allowing customers access to both the eastbound and westbound subway platforms. The elevators were officially opened October 16 at an event attended by Member of Parliament for Toronto-Danforth Julie Dabrusin, City Councillor Paula Fletcher, TTC Chair Jamaal Myers and TTC Interim CEO Greg Percy. For more information, please view our news release.
As part of the TTC’s commitment to safety and modernization, Donlands Station (on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth) now has a second exit/automatic entrance to improve customer safety and convenience. The TTC Board unanimously approved the Local Working Group’s recommended Second Exit location at 17/19 Dewhurst Boulevard. The work for the new second exit/entrance began on February 25, 2021 and opened on August 8, 2024.
The TTC’s Easier Access Program makes stations accessible with the addition of new elevators (at the main entrance). Construction began at the elevator site on Monday, May 10, 2021 and the elevators were put in service on August 7, 2024. To minimize the duration of overall construction, TTC built the Donlands Station Easier Access project at the same time as the Second Exit project. The street level-to-concourse-to-eastbound platform level elevator shaft is located on the southwest corner of Strathmore Boulevard and Donlands Avenue, extending the main station entrance. The concourse-to-westbound platform level elevator shaft is located on the northwest corner of Strathmore Boulevard and Donlands Avenue.
Photo gallery
Project updates
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2021 - 2023 Community Construction Update Meetings
The TTC has been meeting with residents to provide construction updates and mitigate issues throughout the project.
Please see the following updates:February 9, 2021, 2 – 14 Strathmore Residents Construction Update Meeting
February 22, 2021, Councillor Fletcher, TTC and City Transportation Meeting
April 19, 2021, Councillor Fletcher, TTC and City Transportation Update MeetingFebruary 10, 2022, Donlands Neighbours Meeting
October 18, 2022 - Donlands Neighbours Meeting
February 28, 2023 - Donlands Neighbours Meeting
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Online Open House Presentation 2020
The TTC Board unanimously approved the Local Working Group's recommended Second Exit location at 17/19 Dewhurst Boulevard. The second exit will also function as an entrance for the day-to-day convenience of the local community.
Please see the Donlands Station Second Exit/Entrance and Easier Access Improvements – Construction Overview Online Open House from October 2020.
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Public Art Update
Public Art for Donlands Station was awarded at the April 2024 Board Meeting. Artist April Hickox’s Field was approved. Field is a photographic collage comprised of flora, meadow flowers, indigenous plants, and trees from the Toronto Islands.
The artwork was submitted with two possible executions; one, a large plane spread over a flat wall, and the other a four-sided treatment around a pillar. The flat plane at the new second exit/entrance building at 17 Dewhurst Blvd will be used unless this location proves unsuitable or becomes unavailable.
The piece questions what is ‘wild’ and the evolution of humanity’s relationship with our environment. Final images for the work will include plants sourced from Withrow Park, located in Toronto’s Riverdale neighbourhood. The art concepts will be presented at the Toronto Reference Library to the public later this year. For more information, please go to the board report.
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2019 – 2020 Community Pre-Construction Update Meetings
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2016 – 2017 Community Open House Presentations
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2016 Planning Update
- As discussed at the Local Working Group meeting on May 17, 2016, all of the second exit location options (except for “G” at 1 and 3 Strathmore) would allow the City to sell 1 and 3 Strathmore. Therefore every option (except 1 and 3 Strathmore) will receive a credit in “Cost”.
- Although the last Local Working Group for Chester Station suggested a range of costs rather than a specific number for all options, a specific cost number will be provided for all Donlands Station options.
- At the LWG meeting on May 31st, 2016, more information will be presented on construction impacts, including on similar projects locally, and effective mitigation measures that have been put in place. The safety of our neighbours, customers, employees and contractors is of course TTC’s priority. More explanation will be provided, so everyone can better understand the projected impact at Donlands for various options and see specific related examples on mitigation during construction. More specifically, questions were asked on May 17th, 2016 about the landscaping impact and amount of soil cover between any new TTC structure and front yards of local homes. Staff are working on providing specific information on this item (including projected measurements to help with the Local Working Group’s evaluations).
- In an effort to ensure construction impacts are not underestimated, TTC staff displayed the most impactful photos of heavy equipment and construction near Woodbine Station at the LWG meeting on May 17, 2016. That was important, but only provided part of the picture. The important part missing was mitigation efforts and coordination with our neighbours (residential, institutional or commercial), engineering and construction staff and contractors to reduce impacts, arrange safe access, monitor noise and vibration, and protect and restore any part of impacted properties to an attractive state with agreed-upon plans prior to construction. Therefore, TTC will give a short presentation on May 31st to discuss some experiences at nearby Danforth stations (Woodbine and Coxwell) and the efforts TTC has taken. Woodbine is undergoing both second exit and easier access elevator construction. Coxwell is still undergoing heavy construction specific to elevators. The impacts and mitigation measures are similar. There are some other projects directly adjacent to churches and businesses that are also relevant – particularly in relation to the two Donlands Avenue location options.
- A discussion and explanation/clarification of best practise (not laws or regulatory requirements), regarding safety needs to occur at the May 31, 2016 meeting. We need to ensure there is an open discussion and explanation of how safety best practise is consistently applied to all of the location options. This requires more clarification and examination by all. A direct link to the Ombudsman Report.
- There have been requests from some LWG members to include additional location options for the LWG’s review and rankings.
The request was put forward because:
- Option “F” (garage at 1 and 3 Strathmore) is not feasible and;
- Options “H” and “I” on Donlands Avenue have construction impacts that were not confirmed or understood until the meeting and presentation on May 17. In fact, these options were put forward in large part to avoid construction impacts for local residents. (The proposed stairwell for these options will be discussed in more detail on May 31 as part of a larger safety discussion as it applies to all locations consistently).
Therefore, TTC staff would be pleased to add options the LWG had previously put forward but did not make their final vote of 9. The LWG will vote to determine if they would like to analyze 3 additional options that they had put forward previously.
Finally, of course this is a sensitive and important process. A major construction project in a residential community potentially near homes, a school, churches/daycare and/or small businesses is not taken lightly.
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2016 Local Working Group and Meetings
The TTC invited applications for 10-15 Toronto residents representing as many of the below groups as possible to be part of the local working group for Donlands Station:
- Residents living in the vicinity of Donlands Station;
- Business owners and/or landlords with business interests in the vicinity of Donlands Station;
- Workers employed in the vicinity of Donlands Station;
- TTC customers who frequently use Donlands Station;
- Representatives of community groups operating in the vicinity of Donlands Station;
- Representatives of agencies and/or institutions operating in the vicinity of Donlands station;
- Representatives of the local BIA.
Those interested in helping shape the future of transit in the Donlands community provided a brief written submission on why they wanted to be part of the local working group for Donlands Station, and which category of the above they belonged to, if any.
There is an expectation that some work will be done by local working group members in between meetings.
Applications were reviewed by the members of the Expert Advisory Panel on Second Exits, who made the final decision about membership on the local working group. TTC staff were not involved with the selection process.
After receiving applications, 15 community representatives were selected by the Expert Panel. The Local Working Group held seven meetings in 2016.
- Meeting 1 - The meeting was held on February 18, 2016
- Meeting 2 – The meeting was held on Thursday, March 3, 2016
- Meeting 3 – The meeting was held on Tuesday, May 17, 2016
- Meeting 4 – The meeting was held on Tuesday, May 31, 2016
- Meeting 5 – The meeting was held on Tuesday, June 14, 2016
- Meeting 6 – The meeting was held on Tuesday, June 28, 2016
- Meeting 7 – The meeting was held on Tuesday, October 18, 2016 (Final Rankings)
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Nine Location Options
The following nine locations were chosen by the Donlands Station Local Working Group for technical analysis. Details for all options can be found here.
The evaluation process, scoring and ranking system, and the Local Working Group’s ranking of the options will be discussed at a community meeting after the working group completes its analysis. See below for details.
Option A - 14 Dewhurst Boulevard
Option B - 888 Danforth Avenue
Option C - 890 Danforth Avenue - TD Bank
Option D - 890 Danforth Avenue - TD Bank Parking Lot
Option E - 17/19 Dewhurst Boulevard
Option F - 1/3 Strathmore Boulevard – Garage
Option G - 1/3 Strathmore Boulevard
Option H - 53 Donlands Avenue
Option I - 53 Donlands Avenue – Parking Lot
Contact us
If you are interested in receiving updates about this project, please email your contact information to alexa.aiken@ttc.ca or bethany.wong@ttc.caPlease be sure to include your name, address (including city and postal code), phone number and email address. Also, please let us know how you prefer to be contacted - by email, regular mail or both.
Chris Joseph, Manager
Toronto Transit Commission
416-994-0923
Alexa Aiken, Senior Community Liaison
Toronto Transit Commission
Bethany Wong, Community Liaison
Toronto Transit Commission
Construction notices
For construction updates on this project, see the Construction Advisory page.
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