'A lot has changed,' Winnipeg mayor says as he pushes to reopen Portage and Main by summer 2025
CBC
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.
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.
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