Winnipeg | Portage and Main

[bussche]

Looking pretty much ready to go.

[ColdRain&Snow]

Very exciting! Can't wait to walk across it.

[drew]

I drove thru P&M for the first time in a while this morning going east on Portage and turning north on Main.

There is a new curb bump out at Fort Street that extends into the north turning lanes of eastbound Portage that was an unexpected surprise. Anyone have an explanation of what the point of this new bump out is?

[Sheepish]

I encountered it the past couple of days. That bump out seems weird and is just causing traffic to back up to Garry. Doesn't seem to serve a useful purpose.

[Mr Tall Forehead]

I *think* the intent of the new bump out is to show drivers when the new turning lane starts (if that makes sense).

I've seen a fender bender there before two cars were travelling east through the intersection and the car in the left lane continued straight in his lane to travel in the right turning lane but the guy in the right lane assumed he'd just take the inside lane.

Probably happened more than once.

[neutroniks]

After you pass Fort, Portage goes from 4 lanes to 5, and when the lane line's aren't painted/fade, a lot of the traffic seems to have no idea how to follow lanes. Lots of people start to stray either left or right when they're not paying attention. i've seen tons of near misses with busses or other cars because they're not paying attention to which lane they're supposed to be in. So it forces the 4 lanes to follow their respective lanes, and the left-most lane turns into two left-turning lanes once you make it past that curb.

[drew]

^ makes sense. It was definitely snarling up traffic this morning. Except for those of us brave enough to stay on the north most lane of eastbound Portage - but then that concrete bump out kind of surprised me. It should get painted out in a bright colour, otherwise someone is going to drive right into it.

[wags_in_the_peg]

South West corner, no bollards here.

https://imgur.com/gallery/portage-main-sw-corner-opening-soon-H5z5dsp#cqXR8tn

[borkborkbork]

interesting that the city specifically excluded the possibility of a scramble when doing the P&M opening study, but they seem to have built curb cuts that could accommodate all-directions crossing...

[neutroniks]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

interesting that the city specifically excluded the possibility of a scramble when doing the P&M opening study, but they seem to have built curb cuts that could accommodate all-directions crossing...

Most likely so that they don't have to re-do the curbs if they decide to implement it.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by neutroniks

Most likely so that they don't have to re-do the curbs if they decide to implement it.

a degree of foresight i don't expect from the city lol

[WinCitySparky]

It’s like they already know they are going to do it. Just like I believe they already know that closing the underground was a bluff to shut the suburban NIMBYs up in order to open the intersection.

Sometimes you just have to lie in order to do the right and smart thing against a less than smart masses. And I’m here for it.

[Mr Tall Forehead]

Ditto

[neutroniks]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

a degree of foresight i don't expect from the city lol

It's kind of like the scramble crossing pilot they're doing on King x Bannatyne. They don't explicitly say you can cross diagonally, but the light timing is programmed as such that you can. If they decided to re-do the curbs for the pilot study, it would've costed them something like a couple hundred thousand more .

[cllew]

Portage and Main to reopen to pedestrians on June 27 according to Winnipeg Free Press. The report does not say what time so there may or may not be an impact on rush hour traffic.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breaki...ians-one-giant-leap-for-portage-and-main

[bussche]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

It’s like they already know they are going to do it. Just like I believe they already know that closing the underground was a bluff to shut the suburban NIMBYs up in order to open the intersection.

Sometimes you just have to lie in order to do the right and smart thing against a less than smart masses. And I’m here for it.

I think closing the underground is a bluff to get the property owners at the corners to pony up cash to repair it, as their tenants and their employees get the biggest benefit from it.

[WinCitySparky]

Clever!

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by drew

^ makes sense. It was definitely snarling up traffic this morning. Except for those of us brave enough to stay on the north most lane of eastbound Portage - but then that concrete bump out kind of surprised me. It should get painted out in a bright colour, otherwise someone is going to drive right into it.

I heard this elsewhere. Are they completely done there with the median further west? I haven't been downtown in weeks as I'm off work until October!

[The Jabroni]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

It’s like they already know they are going to do it. Just like I believe they already know that closing the underground was a bluff to shut the suburban NIMBYs up in order to open the intersection.

Sometimes you just have to lie in order to do the right and smart thing against a less than smart masses. And I’m here for it.

Not lie. Exaggerate.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

It’s like they already know they are going to do it. Just like I believe they already know that closing the underground was a bluff to shut the suburban NIMBYs up in order to open the intersection.

Sometimes you just have to lie in order to do the right and smart thing against a less than smart masses. And I’m here for it.

Count me in too. The NIMBYs have too much power in this city. If it makes our city a better place, so be it.