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Originally Posted by SJTOKO
Are you at least open to the idea of fixing P&M up and making it more.... sightly? Can you not see the benefit in that? I haven't seen the studies and reports you're referring to, but I would think....call me crazy, but fixing the link between the two areas of the city that are experiencing growth i.e. private sector investment (the forks and the exchange)... would be... A HUGE PRIORITY!
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I am not closed to the idea of making changes at Portage and Main. As I have said, that one intersection and one flow of movement does not exist in a bubble. The plans that were pushed forward all acted like it was.
Eastbound traffic on Portage Ave routine backs up past Garry already and sometimes even to Donald and beyond. And not just during rush hour but most parts of the day. I worked for years in an office overlooking Portage Ave and could see the traffic at all different times of day. P&M already cannot clear the volume of traffic using it in single light cycle and the proposal is to make that situation worse?
There was talk of a report that said the change would have a significant negative impact to transit but the people at City Hall that promised they would open Portage and Main to pedestrians helped limit its distribution so that it was never made fully available to the public.
We have also had business move their offices out of downtown or choose to locate away from downtown to avoid issues like traffic and parking. Making those issues worse is not going to help downtown continue to grow. It will actually have the opposite effect.
I would hazard a guess that I have walked more downtown in total and on more different streets than most of team open. I have at times needs to routine take routes that would have me cross Portage and Main as a pedestrian and it is not the massive issue that Team Open tried to make it out to be. It is ultimately about origin and destination traffic from about four buildings: Fairmont Hotel, Richardson, Bank of Montreal and the Terratech building. Of those it is effectively the Richardson building that is the only real issue. Most of the guests at Fairmont either have a personal vehicle they could use or are attending an event that is running out of the Fairmont. The Bank of Montreal's principle tenant is BellMTS. Their downtown campus extends further south on Main St and exits directly in front of an existing pedestrian crossing of Main St. Terratech is a relatively small building and contributes minimally to the number of people downtown. That leaves the Richardson building.
Both corners on the west side of the intersection have fairly easy access to each other via the intersection at Portage and Fort.
In terms of connecting The Forks and The Exchange the reality is there is a huge void between the two with all the undeveloped land south of The Forks and east of the rail line. Having walked between those areas myself there are two pedestrian routes from the Forks to Main St before the giant void. Both those offer excellent opportunities to cross into downtown without needing to use Portage and Main. And if you are continuing onto the eastern part of the Exchange you would also not use Portage and Main. Even the western part you are much more likely to use McDermot than go to Portage and Main as it is a more pedestrian friendly street that Portage Ave E (east) will ever be even if the intersection is opened to pedestrians.
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As you might be able to tell my opposition to the plan wasn't looked at in isolation and just maintaining the status quo out of ignorance. There are real issues that the plan needs to address first, the top of which is the impact of transit and what changes could be made to make transit a more viable choice to origin and destination traffic throughout downtown Winnipeg as a whole. On a high level my thinking is we need to get that
BUS rapid transit fully built out city-wide and with routes that don't depend on keeping the status quo for Portage and Main. The rapid transit network would then also help take the pressure off the vehicle counts through the intersection and enable discussions on the merits of possible changes.
You don't build a shiny new office tower without getting the supporting foundation in place first. Opening Portage and Main to pedestrians is the same thing -- you need the supports in place before you make the changes.
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Originally Posted by joshlemer
If you've ever been to any larger city than Winnipeg, or indeed to any other busy intersection in Winnipeg, it's really clear that Team Closed obviously does not have a leg to stand on, if their arguments are pedestrian safety and congestion.
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You seem to be completely ignorant of how things are in other cities. Take Las Vegas, a city about the same size as Winnipeg. They aren't talking about getting rid of their grade separated pedestrian crossing, just the opposite they keep adding more of them.
As for comparing Portage and Main to other intersections in Winnipeg, how about the similar sized Kennaston and Sterling Lyon?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...kway-1.3764275