Metrolinx just hit another exciting milestone for the Ontario Line subway

As Toronto residents anxiously wait for Metrolinx to reveal the opening date for the constantly delayed and long-overdue Eglinton Crosstown LRT, significant progress is being made on another massive transit project in the city. 

On Thursday, the provincial transit agency shared an exclusive look behind the bright yellow-painted retention brackets installed at the site of the future Queen-Spadina Ontario Line station. 

POV: You’re on the other side of the yellow retention towers at Queen-Spadina. Behind the walls, demolition is 90% complete meaning we’re that much closer to piling work starting on the future north station entrance. pic.twitter.com/kkxJ0QGUoV

— Ontario Line (@OntarioLine) March 14, 2024

Metrolinx revealed that demolition work is 90 per cent complete, meaning piling work will be starting at the future north entrance of the station very soon.

The retention brackets seen in the photo are being used to brace the existing facades of the historic building at the northeast corner of the intersection in place as the rest of the building is demolished, a strategy that is known as in-situ facade preservation. 

Originally designed by George Wallace Gouinlock for the Bank of Hamilton (which later merged with CIBC) the historic building was completed in 1903 and received heritage designation in the early 1970s. 

How an old Toronto building is being gutted and saved for an Ontario Line station https://t.co/wX9FZim7Va

— blogTO (@blogTO) January 22, 2024

Metrolinx has been regularly making breakthroughs on the future transit line, having announced just last month that the project had reached another milestone by installing the first pile for the south shaft of the forthcoming Queen-Spadina station. 

By 2041, the bustling station is expected to 7,200 customers and 3,800 transfers during its busiest hour, with approximately 23,000 people living within walking distance of the travel hub. 

Iconic Toronto buildings now gutted as work on new subway station begins🙃https://t.co/S8mP3KyD7Z #TTC #Toronto #TorontoConstruction

— blogTO (@blogTO) December 16, 2023

The under-construction Ontario Line is set to bring 15 new stations to Toronto along a 15.6-kilometre subway line running from Exhibition Place, through the downtown core, up to the Ontario Science Centre. 

The upcoming transit line is expected to bring significant relief from congestion through Toronto's existing transit network with over 40 connections to the TTC, GO Transit and the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.