Portage and Main, heating modernization, tree-planting among priorities for mayoral candidates Monday

Winnipeg's mayoral hopefuls continued to make campaign pledges Monday, with the municipal election only a month away.

Rana Bokhari says if she’s elected mayor, Winnipeg’s most iconic intersection will finally open back up.

“The barriers are already coming down,” Bokhari said Monday about the famous intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street. “According to engineering reports, the barriers are in the way of major repairs needed to the underground concourse.

“Once they are down, they will not go back up.”

Bokhari said the lack of pedestrian access at Portage and Main is a human rights issue, as it impacts Winnipeggers with disabilities, and the only benefit to keeping the barriers up is a minor one for drivers only.

“There was only one major argument (against) bringing down the barriers, and that was a 33-second traffic slow-down,” she said.

“Placing people in vehicles above all other types of commuters should not be the reason we keep the intersection closed. People should be able to travel through our famous intersection whether they walk, bus, bike or drive.”

Portage and Main has long been a contentious issue in Winnipeg, with current Mayor Brian Bowman holding a 2018 plebiscite on opening the intersection to pedestrian crossings.

While Bowman — who had previously campaigned on opening up Portage and Main — said at the time he was disappointed in the results of the vote, which saw a decisive ‘no’ victory, he said he would respect the results and keep the intersection open solely to vehicle traffic.