Portage and Main reopening could curb road projects
Committee votes to give $13M for initial design, construction at intersection
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/03/2024 (548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A proposal to let pedestrians once again cross the street at Portage and Main and close the site’s underground concourse is one step closer to reality, with the city poised to defer some road projects to fund it.
On Thursday, council’s property and development committee unanimously approved a motion to set aside $13 million for the initial opening design and construction to open the surface-level crossing by July 1, 2025. The changes still require a final council vote.
Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters the investment makes sense, stating that maintaining the concourse costs the city an average of $1 million annually, even after rental income is factored in. The city previously estimated it would take $73 million to repair a leaking membrane and up to five years of traffic-delaying construction to keep the underground portion open.
One of the entrances to the underground Portage and Main concourse. (MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES)
“We need to make the practical decision. And I think the best decision for the long-term future of taxpayers and pedestrians downtown (is to) open the intersection to pedestrian traffic … (and) decommission the concourse,” said Gillingham.
The city estimates closing the concourse would cost about $20 million to $50 million.
Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of property and development, joined Couns. Shawn Dobson and Evan Duncan to unanimously support the proposal. Committee member Matt Allard was absent from the meeting.
Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said she expects an “economic uplift” for the downtown once pedestrian access is restored.
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To pay for the reopening, the proposal calls for council to defer $8.6 million of downtown road projects planned for 2025, which would be built in 2028 instead. Another $1.1 million of local road projects tagged to help revitalize the area around Portage Place, which were linked to a now-cancelled Starlight Investments plan to redevelop the mall, would also be repurposed. The remaining funds would be borrowed.
After a five-year road renewal program that at times tore up streets and sparked closures, Rollins said she believes there is support to shift municipal funding to other priorities.
“We need to make the practical decision. And I think the best decision for the long-term future of taxpayers and pedestrians downtown (is to) open the intersection to pedestrian traffic … (and) decommission the concourse”–Mayor Scott Gillingham
“I know some businesses might actually be super happy with taking money on regional and local roads to pay for some of this Portage and Main at-grade changes,” she said.
The plan also calls for the city to enter a sole-source contract with an engineering consultant to expedite the reopening work.
During the meeting, Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) warned the committee against making “rushed decisions.”
“While I, too, experienced sticker shock at the estimated $73-million price tag and anticipated four to five years of vehicular traffic impacts (to repair it), I also believe that the underground weather-protected concourse is an important piece of public infrastructure for our downtown,” said Browaty.
He also fears property and rental values for businesses at the site could decline if public access is cut off.
“(If), all of a sudden, there’s no walkway, the rental rates will go down, the values go down, our property taxes go down,” said Browaty.
Rollins stressed that the plan requires consultation with affected businesses, property owners and other downtown stakeholders, and a concourse closure would not happen immediately.
Meanwhile, an advocate for people with disabilities strongly supported opening the intersection, stating it would remove barriers for wheelchair users and those who face mobility challenges. He also urged city council to carefully consider the value of the underground walkways before closing them.
“That is an absolutely vital route for all Winnipeggers in the wintertime but especially for people with disabilities that face numerous barriers to simply moving around our community this time of year,” said Patrick Stewart, a consultant with the Independent Living Resource Centre.
An anti-poverty advocate deemed the proposal to reopen the intersection an act of “political courage,” noting it followed extensive heated debate.
“Winnipeg, for many years, has prioritized traffic over the needs of people living and working downtown … If we want Winnipeg to grow, making downtown a more livable, walkable community should be a priority,” said Josh Brandon of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.
Brandon said downtown residents include a disproportionate number of low-income people.
Council’s executive policy committee will consider the proposal March 12, while a final council vote is expected March 21.
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
X: @joyanne_pursaga
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CLOSED INTERSECTION TIMELINE
December 1976: City council awards a contract to build an underground parking garage and pedestrian corridor at Portage and Main, and agrees to prohibit pedestrians from crossing the iconic intersection for 40 years.
February 1979: A city committee votes to immediately ban pedestrian traffic at the intersection, although crossing from the south corner was permitted to continue until a connection was completed between the concourse and street.
March 1979: A caravan of protesters — many using wheelchairs — make three circuits of the intersection to protest the closure. A Winnipeg police sergeant told them, “I must warn you that you are in violation of a traffic-control device.” Officers wrote down the names of about a dozen protesters and gave them to the Crown attorney’s office.
August 2014: Mayoral candidate Brian Bowman holds a campaign news conference to announce he would open the intersection to pedestrians, with the goal of getting it done by 2019. “We’ll all be here when the Winnipeg Jets win the Stanley Cup,” he said.
October 2018: Voters re-elect Bowman to a second term. Winnipeggers also vote overwhelmingly (65 per cent “no”) against reopening the intersection in a non-binding plebiscite.
October 2022: Scott Gillingham is elected mayor. He said during the campaign that he was opposed to reopening the intersection. The second-place candidate, former mayor Glen Murray, previously supported reopening Portage and Main but said that month that “the people have spoken about it once already.”
April 2023: The city releases a discussion paper outlining the issues surrounding the intersection, including a massive project to repair the membrane protecting the Winnipeg Square concourse and options to improve pedestrian access.
March 1, 2024: Gillingham says a motion will be introduced to reopen the intersection to pedestrian traffic by the summer of 2025 to coincide with the launch of the new transit route network. The city releases a report saying repairs to the concourse would cost at least $73 million and create up to five years of traffic delays.
March 7, 2024: The city’s property and development committee passes the motion unanimously.
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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History
Updated on Thursday, March 7, 2024 2:04 PM CST: Replaces photo, adds details on vote, adds dates to timeline
Updated on Thursday, March 7, 2024 6:50 PM CST: Adds byline