Opening of intersection proof that ‘Peg can change
Opinion
Only in Winnipeg could something so ordinary — so pedestrian — as crossing the street become a historical event witnessed by hundreds.
And yet, on Friday morning, that's exactly what happened.
The day many Winnipeggers have been waiting — and hoping, advocating and voting — for had arrived: the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street, the Crossroads of Canada, the iconic, debated, maligned, politicized, romanticized heart of our city, was finally opened back up to pedestrians for the first time since its closure in 1979.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Several hundred members of the public and media gather for speeches for the official opening of the pedestrian crosswalks at the historic intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street in Winnipeg.
I was born in 1985, so for longer than I've been alive, Portage and Main has been for cars, not people. Our most famous intersection became our most infamous — for its concrete, bunker-like barricades, for the almost comically convoluted way one had to get across it. For too long, the heart of our city was a hard, closed, inaccessible thing.
And then, on a gorgeous morning in June, it opened — both ceremoniously and unceremoniously.
Hours before the 'official' opening at 10:30 a.m. — before Mayor Scott Gillingham crossed Main Street to Randy Bachman's Portage and Main (the slow version) — when the pedestrian signals were still covered and the temporary barricades were still in place, people were, in fact, crossing Portage and Main.
As if they've been doing it every morning. As if it were any morning.
Office workers carrying takeout cups of coffee unknowingly made history by being among the first to traverse the freshly painted zebra crossings. A crew of construction workers in their neon safety vests crossed it — Abbey Road-style — to sweep away the remaining construction debris.
It wasn't long before a large crowd formed to hear the mayor speak, filled with Winnipeggers eager to be part of their city's history. So large, in fact, it threatened to spill onto the streets and people had to be reminded to move away from the road.
And then, there they were, without fanfare: walk symbols, illuminated, on Portage and Main. A thing like that. Every day and historic. Ordinary and extraordinary. Unremarkable and remarkable.
Under a big blue Prairie sky, reflected in skyscraper glass, we didn't have to imagine a vibrant future for our downtown because, for the first time in a long time, we could actually see a glimpse of it.
I suppose, technically, Portage and Main is just an intersection. But it's always been more than that — even when, for a long while, it felt like even less than that.
Portage and Main has always represented vision and potential and possibility — both realized and unrealized. If historical editorial cartoons are any measure, people were as vociferously opposed to its closure in 1979 as they were to its reopening in 2018.
Witnessing the reopening was a joyful, energizing experience, because Winnipeggers were excited to be in a place that, for so long, they really couldn't be — save for under very specific, usually Jets-related circumstances.
There was applause and good-natured honking, hugs and shoulder-slaps. Business people and babies, dogs and bikes. Walking on Sunshine blaring from a speaker and sirens blaring from emergency vehicles because it's still a city centre, after all.
A woman, positioned in full view of the bank of media cameras, held a bright green sign that simply read 'Finally!!!!'
Wednesdays
Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture.
Portage and Main is just a starting point. There are other projects and plans that are changing the city. And that's just it: Portage and Main is proof that Winnipeg can, indeed, change.
Under a big blue Prairie sky, reflected in skyscraper glass, we didn't have to imagine a vibrant future for our downtown because, for the first time in a long time, we could actually see a glimpse of it.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Mayor Scott Gillingham, along with several city council members and stakeholders, cross Main Street to mark the official opening of the pedestrian crosswalks.
As the festivities wound down and the crowd started to disperse, Portage and Main began its new life as 'just an intersection' that will probably never look that clean again. But Friday showed us what's possible. Look toward any corner and you could see the parties and protests and pop-ups. The people.
We wanted to be able to walk through Portage and Main, that's true. But maybe being there — actually being there — felt so good because now there's a place to be.
jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca
Jen ZorattiColumnist
Jen Zoratti is a columnist and feature writer working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of the weekly newsletter NEXT. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at RRC Polytech and was a music writer before joining the Free Press in 2013. Read more about Jen.
Every piece of reporting Jen 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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Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Pedestrians reclaim Portage and Main as Winnipeg reopens the famed intersection after 46 years
History books will show that Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham was the first pedestrian in more than four decades to traverse between Portage Avenue and Main Street, finally reopening what is widely known as the crossroads of Canada to foot traffic after years of fervent debate. Well, kind of. Many others have routinely jaywalked across the downtown thoroughfares since 1979, when barricades were erected to prioritize the free flow of cars and trucks. People on foot have since been crossing illegally or using an underground concourse beneath the 16 lanes of traffic at the famed intersection, proximate to the longitudinal centre of the country. But on Friday, hundreds of eager residents beat Mr. Gillingham to his preplanned photo-op moment. With the buttery midmorning sun spotlighting their path, shrouds over the new walk signals were lifted, and the mayor became just one among a crowd of many to legally cross the road when the last remaining barriers were removed. He marked the occasion, as music blared, with a healthy dose of classically Winnipeg-flavoured sardonicism. 'When I was a kid growing up, playing hockey, idolizing Dale Hawerchuk, I dreamed of having my own press conference at Portage and Main,' Mr. Gillingham said to roaring laughter. 'This is very special,' he continued cheekily, speaking from a podium facing the intersection while pompoms were thrown in the air. 'Today, we're putting an end to 46 years of debating whether or not people should be allowed to cross the street.' On a more serious note, Mr. Gillingham acknowledged that getting to this point wasn't easy. The reopening has long been opposed by both city councillors and residents. 'We know that there's still more work to do. Work to improve safety, work to address homelessness, and work to drive economic growth downtown,' he said. 'But making the intersections more accessible and more connected helps move us in the right direction for everyone.' In fact, Mr. Gillingham himself was opposed to the reopening for years as a city councillor. He even stood against it during his 2022 mayoral election campaign. In 2018, his predecessor, Brian Bowman, had promised a reopening. But he backtracked after two-thirds of Winnipeggers (most of whom were from the city's suburbs) voted against it in a non-binding plebiscite. Ultimately, Mr. Gillingham's 180 about putting pedestrians back on the streets was a practical decision. Last year, a city report indicated that the intersection's underground concourse was significantly prone to leakage – costing around $73-million to repair, with up to five years of construction-induced traffic delays. The mayor told reporters he didn't have a definitive date to shutter the concourse, or a decision on whether it would be permanently or partially closed. While he spoke, Haley Yurman, who works at local coffee chain Empty Cup, one of several businesses housed in the underground walkway, waved a sign behind him: 'Still brewing one level down.' Ms. Yurman said she is unsure if her café will need to relocate. On Friday, dozens of long-standing community advocates showed up in full force to celebrate the milestone. Over the years, they had initiated campaign upon campaign to fight against urban planning that puts cars before people. Many drivers honk-honk-honked in support, as people took selfies atop the newly-established pedestrian refuge islands at the four corners of the intersection. Some commuters, however, honked out of anger, cussing at the event's attendees from their car and truck windows. 'I really never thought I'd see this in my lifetime. There's been so much resistance,' said Martina Kucey, shortly after making a jaunt across the walkways with her golden retrievers, Carter and Bishop. 'But here it is. It's finally happened. And I never want to see it go away.'
Winnipeg Free Press
11 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Opening of intersection proof that ‘Peg can change
Opinion Only in Winnipeg could something so ordinary — so pedestrian — as crossing the street become a historical event witnessed by hundreds. And yet, on Friday morning, that's exactly what happened. The day many Winnipeggers have been waiting — and hoping, advocating and voting — for had arrived: the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street, the Crossroads of Canada, the iconic, debated, maligned, politicized, romanticized heart of our city, was finally opened back up to pedestrians for the first time since its closure in 1979. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Several hundred members of the public and media gather for speeches for the official opening of the pedestrian crosswalks at the historic intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street in Winnipeg. I was born in 1985, so for longer than I've been alive, Portage and Main has been for cars, not people. Our most famous intersection became our most infamous — for its concrete, bunker-like barricades, for the almost comically convoluted way one had to get across it. For too long, the heart of our city was a hard, closed, inaccessible thing. And then, on a gorgeous morning in June, it opened — both ceremoniously and unceremoniously. Hours before the 'official' opening at 10:30 a.m. — before Mayor Scott Gillingham crossed Main Street to Randy Bachman's Portage and Main (the slow version) — when the pedestrian signals were still covered and the temporary barricades were still in place, people were, in fact, crossing Portage and Main. As if they've been doing it every morning. As if it were any morning. Office workers carrying takeout cups of coffee unknowingly made history by being among the first to traverse the freshly painted zebra crossings. A crew of construction workers in their neon safety vests crossed it — Abbey Road-style — to sweep away the remaining construction debris. It wasn't long before a large crowd formed to hear the mayor speak, filled with Winnipeggers eager to be part of their city's history. So large, in fact, it threatened to spill onto the streets and people had to be reminded to move away from the road. And then, there they were, without fanfare: walk symbols, illuminated, on Portage and Main. A thing like that. Every day and historic. Ordinary and extraordinary. Unremarkable and remarkable. Under a big blue Prairie sky, reflected in skyscraper glass, we didn't have to imagine a vibrant future for our downtown because, for the first time in a long time, we could actually see a glimpse of it. I suppose, technically, Portage and Main is just an intersection. But it's always been more than that — even when, for a long while, it felt like even less than that. Portage and Main has always represented vision and potential and possibility — both realized and unrealized. If historical editorial cartoons are any measure, people were as vociferously opposed to its closure in 1979 as they were to its reopening in 2018. Witnessing the reopening was a joyful, energizing experience, because Winnipeggers were excited to be in a place that, for so long, they really couldn't be — save for under very specific, usually Jets-related circumstances. There was applause and good-natured honking, hugs and shoulder-slaps. Business people and babies, dogs and bikes. Walking on Sunshine blaring from a speaker and sirens blaring from emergency vehicles because it's still a city centre, after all. A woman, positioned in full view of the bank of media cameras, held a bright green sign that simply read 'Finally!!!!' Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Portage and Main is just a starting point. There are other projects and plans that are changing the city. And that's just it: Portage and Main is proof that Winnipeg can, indeed, change. Under a big blue Prairie sky, reflected in skyscraper glass, we didn't have to imagine a vibrant future for our downtown because, for the first time in a long time, we could actually see a glimpse of it. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Mayor Scott Gillingham, along with several city council members and stakeholders, cross Main Street to mark the official opening of the pedestrian crosswalks. As the festivities wound down and the crowd started to disperse, Portage and Main began its new life as 'just an intersection' that will probably never look that clean again. But Friday showed us what's possible. Look toward any corner and you could see the parties and protests and pop-ups. The people. We wanted to be able to walk through Portage and Main, that's true. But maybe being there — actually being there — felt so good because now there's a place to be. Jen ZorattiColumnist Jen Zoratti is a columnist and feature writer working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of the weekly newsletter NEXT. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at RRC Polytech and was a music writer before joining the Free Press in 2013. Read more about Jen. Every piece of reporting Jen 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.
Winnipeg Free Press
16 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Felt great, but also unremarkable:' pedestrians cross Portage and Main as city preps for official opening
The barricades are down at Portage Avenue and Main Street and Winnipeg's landmark intersection will soon be officially open to pedestrian traffic for the first time in more than four decades. No longer will pedestrians be forced to walk an additional block, or divert through an underground concourse, to cross the street. Friday morning rush hour was in full force as construction crews cleaned the last bits of dust and debris from newly finished sidewalk crossings on all four corners of the intersection. By 8 a.m., a small crowd of supporters had already gathered in anticipation of an official opening ceremony to be led by Mayor Scott Gillingham around 10:30 a.m. Construction crews remove the last of the barriers while impatient pedestrians cross the street at Portage Avenue and Main Street just hours before the crosswalks officially open Friday morning. (Mike Deal / Free Press) 'This intersection being closed has been such a chasm or an abyss in the middle of the city. Really, it just takes away from people being able to move,' said Emma Durand-Wood, a proponent of the Vote Open movement which has long advocated for removing the concrete barriers. 'It's just crazy that it was so difficult to (cross), and you'd be forced down into these kind of bunkers that smelled like urine and just so unpleasant.' Durand-Wood had her two children and bicycle in tow as she mingled with Vote Open supporters and other bystanders. The small crowd cheered on pedestrians who were already walking the intersection, stepping past temporary orange barricades and seizing the opportunity to cross between traffic signals. 'I already crossed last night,' Durand-Wood admitted, smiling. 'It felt great, but also, like, completely unremarkable.' When the intersection closed to pedestrian traffic in 1979, it was billed as a way to revitalize Winnipeg's downtown and streamline vehicle traffic through one of its busiest interchanges. Debate over whether to open the intersection has continued for years. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. In 2014, then-mayoral candidate Brian Bowman pledged to re-introduce foot traffic to Portage and Main during his election campaign. That move was later halted after the results of a 2018 plebiscite, in which two-thirds of voters rejected the reopening. A pedestrian crosses at Portage Avenue and Main Street on Friday morning.(Mike Deal / Free Press) The debate was settled in recent years, after a city report estimated it would cost $73 million to replace a leaky membrane protecting the underground concourse. Over the past several months, the large concrete barriers that corralled pedestrians away from the intersection have been removed. In their place, the city has installed new curbsides, crosswalks and electronic crossing signals which — although currently covered — will be unveiled after the mayor says a few words. More to come. Tyler SearleReporter Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press's city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic's creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler. Every piece of reporting Tyler 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.
