'A lot has changed,' Winnipeg mayor says as he pushes to reopen Portage and Main by summer 2025
Scott Gillingham says fixing intersection to save walkway below would cause 'traffic chaos' and cost $73M
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham made it official Friday morning and announced his desire to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians by summer 2025.
A new report from the city's acting urban planning manager says fixing the leaky membrane at Portage Avenue and Main Street in order to protect the city-owned underground pedestrian crossing would create traffic delays for four or five years and cost at least $73 million.
Gillingham said Friday at a news conference he cannot support years of traffic disruptions and will not support the plans, outlined in the new report, to fix the leaky membrane at the city's sixth-busiest intersection.
"Repairing the membrane would require completely tearing up Portage and Main in sections and create traffic chaos downtown for four to five years," Gillingham said.
"We need to pursue a more practical alternative. It's time to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic."
WATCH | How Portage and Main traffic changed:
Gillingham's plan, which must be supported by council, would permanently close the circular underground walkway.
Reopening the intersection in summer 2025 would coincide with the implementation of Winnipeg Transit's new route network, which will include a transit hub at Portage and Main.
Portage and Main has been closed to pedestrians since 1979. An agreement with neighbouring property owners to keep it closed expired in 2019.
Most property owners support reopening
When asked for comment, three out of five of those owners said Friday they support reopening the intersection to pedestrians.
They include the owner of the Richardson office tower at the northeast corner of the intersection.
"James Richardson & Sons Ltd. is in favour of improving and revitalizing Winnipeg's downtown, including taking the step of opening the Portage and Main intersection to pedestrian traffic," spokesperson Barb Perreaux said in an emailed statement.
"We understand that the city is considering closing the underground pathway as part of the reopening of the intersection to above-ground pedestrian traffic, but without time to consider the details of such a plan, it is too early for us to comment further."
Harvard Developments Corporation, the Regina-based company that owns 201 Portage Ave. at the northwest corner of Portage and Main, also supports reopening the intersection.
"It's a critical component of activating and energizing the downtown core," said Harvard president Rosanne Blaisdell Hill, speaking over the phone from Calgary.
"In terms of closing the underground, we have not had a chance to really assess what the impact of that is."
The Manitoba Métis Federation, which owns the former Bank of Montreal building on the southeast corner of Portage and Main, also supports reopening the intersection.
MMF President David Chartrand said above-grade crossings will increase the vibrancy of downtown Winnipeg and enable foot traffic to the Métis heritage centre under construction at the Bank of Montreal. That centre is slated to open in 2026, he said.
Bell MTS, which leases a tower at the southeast corner, declined comment.
Artis Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns the office tower Bell MTS leases, as well as Winnipeg Square mall at the southwest corner of Portage and Main, did not respond to requests for comment.
Past efforts
Former mayor Glen Murray sought to reopen the intersection and held a contest to redesign it. That plan was shelved by his successor, Sam Katz, who said he wished to honour a 40-year deal with adjacent property owners to keep the intersection closed.
WATCH | Past efforts to reopen Portage and Main:
Brian Bowman, Katz's successor, initially promised to reopen the intersection to pedestrians but shied away after a majority of Winnipeggers who voted in a non-binding plebiscite in 2018 indicated they opposed the idea.
Gillingham did not support reopening in 2018.
"There's a lot that has changed in the past six years. We have information today we didn't have then," Gillingham said.
"We didn't know then that replacing the membrane would disrupt traffic for four to five years. We didn't know that it would cost $73 million. We didn't know that we were going to have a global pandemic that would permanently change commuting and work patterns.
"We didn't have the transit network design, which will actually help to improve traffic flow at the intersection, and I think if voters did have that information in 2018, I think they probably would have made a different choice. I know I would have."
Gillingham said he is not asking the province for money to help with decommissioning the underground concourse.
WATCH | Mixed opinions on plan to reopen intersection:
City councillors Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), Janice Lukes (Waverley West), Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) and Vivian Santos (Point Douglas) stood alongside Gillingham at the news conference.
Rollins, Gilroy and Santos represent every Winnipeg ward adjacent to downtown, while Rollins also chairs council's property committee and Lukes chairs council's public works committee.
Gillingham said he expects some city councillors to oppose his decision.
'Rush to judgment': Wyatt
Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt is one of them. He questioned why a city planner wrote the report and not a city engineer.
"It raises alarms and concerns that we would rush to judgment that we would overturn a plebiscite decision made by the citizens of Winnipeg not to open that intersection," Wyatt said in an interview.
He later jumped up to the podium where Gillingham spoke at the news conference and addressed people who were there. City hall staff responsible for audiovisual equipment turned his microphone off.
WATCH | Coun. Russ Wyatt makes his opposition known:
Kate Fenske, executive director of the Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone, said reopening Portage and Main to pedestrians will improve the vibrancy and safety of downtown.
Adam Dooley, who was the co-chair of the "vote open" campaign during the 2018 plebiscite, said the city was aware keeping the underground concourse would come with significant costs.
The decision should never have been put to a vote, said Dooley, the public relations manager at communications firm UpHouse.
Read the report below or by clicking here.
Corrections
- A previous version of the story noted that Bell MTS owns the tower at the southeast corner of Portage and Main.Mar 16, 2024 11:25 AM CT
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With files Cameron Maclean and Alana Cole