Two Bowman allies say they're not quite ready to cross Portage and Main

Two members of Brian Bowman's inner circle are not on board with every aspect of the mayor's plan to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians.

St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes and St. James-Brooklands-Weston Coun. Scott Gillingham say they hope to amend a plan to spend $3.5 million on improvements to the city's most famous intersection before city council's executive policy committee considers the plan.

On Wednesday, EPC will vote on a plan to spend up to $1.5 million to improve the underground concourse at Portage and Main, up to $500,000 above ground at the Richardson Plaza and up to $1.5 million on architectural and engineering plans that would pave the way toward reopening the intersection in 2019​.

Portage and Main has been closed to foot traffic since 1979 and remains closed under a 40-year deal with property owners who now support the idea of reopening the intersection.

• CAO recommends Winnipeg spend $3.5M this year to get ball rolling on Portage and Main reopening
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Mayes said while he supports the planned improvements, he is not satisfied with $134,000 city traffic study that did not present the city with a way to ensure Winnipeg Transit buses can move through the intersection, did not contemplate the construction of the North Transitway that will eventually run along Main Street and did not consider the option to open the intersection to pedestrians on a part-time basis.

A decade ago, the city rejected the idea of replacing the barricades at Portage and Main with bollards that would allow people to cross during evenings and on weekends.

"I just want to make it clear that we haven't decided it will reopen for pedestrian traffic," Mayes said Monday in an interview. "I'm prepared to support the funding for the beautification, for the fixing up the barriers of the plaza area, but I would need to see a much better traffic study before supporting reopening for pedestrians."​

Mayes said he's concerned about Winnipeg Transit delays on St. Vital-bound routes because every bus heading toward his ward runs through Portage and Main.

As part of the plans for the future East Transitway from downtown to Transcona, Winnipeg is studying the prospect of removing buses from Main Street by placing them on an elevated CN Rail bed around Union Station. This stretch would connect the East Transitway to the existing Southwest Transitway.

Mayes would like to see planning accelerate for the North Transitway, which is supposed to run from downtown along Main Street and terminate near Burrows Avenue, mainly to see whether bus traffic can be reduced at Portage and Main.

"It's the shortest BRT line and it's cheapest BRT line, so we should be looking at that and if it's going to be going up and down Main, I think we should be looking at that as part of any traffic study on Main Street," Mayes said.

Gillingham, meanwhile, said he wants to make it explicitly clear the city has no immediate intention to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians.

"I'd like to see more clarity from the report," he said, adding he does support improvements to the intersection in the short term.

Bowman pledged to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians when he ran for office. On Friday, he characterized the plan coming before council as the middle ground between a rushed, haphazard reopening and an interminable delay.

A spokesman for the mayor's office said Bowman will consider the motions from Mayes and Gillingham once they're filed.