Winnipeg | Portage and Main

[OTA in Winnipeg]

^That brought me to 24 Hours Downtown

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/06/23/24-hours-downtown

[wags_in_the_peg]

The old BMO / Metis centre stairwell is really bad. The smell of urine and graffiti is just brutal. In winter I used that bus stop and would cross Portage and enter through Lombard Hotel just to avoid holding my breath for 2 minutes.

201 Portage and 300 Main take care of their stairwells ok.

[esquire]

The stairwells are fine. They are just misused. This approach just fixes the symptoms and kicks the can down the road.

[Sheepish]

Yeah...Richardson's want all that traffic through their lobby.
I have an idea...tear down the barricades and open the intersection this summer!

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

The old BMO / Metis centre stairwell is really bad. The smell of urine and graffiti is just brutal. In winter I used that bus stop and would cross Portage and enter through Lombard Hotel just to avoid holding my breath for 2 minutes.

201 Portage and 300 Main take care of their stairwells ok.

You want to see graffiti, come to Montreal! We complain ab out a lot of stuff in Winnipeg. Bad roads, bad drivers, graffiti, piss drenched decrepit stairwells. Montreal takes the cake hands down on those subjects.

[BAKGUY]

Originally Posted by Sheepish

Yeah...Richardson's want all that traffic through their lobby.
I have an idea...tear down the barricades and open the intersection this summer!

Yes!!!!!

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

You want to see graffiti, come to Montreal! We complain ab out a lot of stuff in Winnipeg. Bad roads, bad drivers, graffiti, piss drenched decrepit stairwells. Montreal takes the cake hands down on those subjects.

100%. I’m there often and it’s always jarring just how much graffiti there is. Even like in decent neighborhoods on residential buildings, they are covered in it.

[The Jabroni]

Reviving this thread again, because the link below was posted in the Winnipeg Construction thread.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/portage-main-winnipeg-1.7130493

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by The Jabroni

Reviving this thread again, because the link below was posted in the Winnipeg Construction thread.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/portage-main-winnipeg-1.7130493

I wish the City Council would just grow a pair, ignore any type of referendum, and tear down the barricades, and make it pedestrian friendly.

[thebasketballgeek]

It’s time for a scramble crossing. Portage and Main should be the cities Shibuya or Yonge/Dundas. Not the compete joke it currently is.

[wags_in_the_peg]

^100% agree

[pspeid]

From Gillingham's comments today:

“It’s time to deal with Portage and Main once and for all, and move on to more important issues like improving traffic flow throughout the rest of the city, redesigning our new transit network and interesting in new recreation facilities in growing neighbourhoods.”

Seriously, I could not have said it better myself. As much as I've been an Open P&M booster, the endless animosity it created was wearing extremely thin. We received some pretty negative national attention for the debate and it's outcome. For me it'll be a relief to see it settled.

Gillingham also said;

“The issue has consumed so much time and energy over the years, but it’s just an intersection...”

I don't know if it's "just" an intersection, at least in local mythology, but yeah, being able to drive through one intersection within the traffic pattern.

Traffic will survive, people will still get where they're going and, hopefully, our iconic intersection will get spruced up to something we can all enjoy, whether walking it or driving through it.

[bodaggin]

Just build skywalks and add them to the network.

The skywalk system might be the only smart thing Winnipeg has done from an infrastructure standpoint.

Protects from weather, grade separates traffic, eliminates lights, eliminates accident potential, increases pedestrian capacity. And they don't cost a ton either. Brilliant honestly.

[Wpg_Guy]

[bodaggin]

So they want to cram cars, AND pedestrians, AND not only a transit station, but a major transfer hub....

.... Into an already overcrammed intersection?

Stop the dogpile development. Spread it out! Does anyone in this city know how to think laterally? This "trying to be something for everyone" mentality means everyone gets nothing. Or everyone is left with nothing because it costs so much.

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

Where is this from? Looks aesthetically pleasing but it also looks busy. Maybe scrambles once every light cycle would be a happy balance. N-S busses, N-S cars, E-W busses, E-W cars, pedestrians, repeat.

[wags_in_the_peg]

^ love, love, love all of this design and anyone that doesnt should be publicly flogged! (at P&M)

only thing I have concern about is the trees, not many survive our sand/salt and exhaust. all for it if they can figure that out

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

Where is this from? Looks aesthetically pleasing but it also looks busy. Maybe scrambles once every light cycle would be a happy balance. N-S busses, N-S cars, E-W busses, E-W cars, pedestrians, repeat.

Recommended Vision Renderings

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by bodaggin

Just build skywalks and add them to the network.

The skywalk system might be the only smart thing Winnipeg has done from an infrastructure standpoint.

Protects from weather, grade separates traffic, eliminates lights, eliminates accident potential, increases pedestrian capacity. And they don't cost a ton either. Brilliant honestly.

Eliminates street level activity. Eliminates street level business. Eliminates vibrancy of downtown.

[pspeid]

I'd like to think that the prospect of increased foot traffic, planned BRT access and some aesthetic upgrades to P & M will give a positive bump to some of the projects in the area. I'm thinking mainly of the decorative elements to the MMF/old Bank of Montreal building, upgrades to the Fairmont, and maybe even progress on 138 Portage Ave.

Yeah, it's wishful thinking. While I'm dreaming I'd love to see the empty lot at 416 Main Street transformed before I'm planted. Twelve years ago there were apparently plans for a hotel on that site. Would the market justify looking at that again?

DISCLAIMER: BELOW IS AN ARTICLE FROM 2013, JUST FOR REFERENCE. It ain't happening as far as I know.

https://winnipegsun.com/2013/06/24/details-of-portage-and-main-tower-emerge