Winnipeg Construction X

[Newstart]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

Yea I agree. If it is scaring away development by putting the bare minimum in urban design, maybe we would be better off scaring these developers away and wait until an appropriate design is proposed.

I'd tend to concur. It would better to scare away than to get this kind of crap. Its so much wasted land/space/opportunity and creating the perpetual reliance on vehicles.

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by CoryB

There is a public plan for the last couple of years looking at how to restructure Portage and Route 90.

I cannot remember the full details but I do remember it would be removing the west to sound ramp and replacing it with a traffic light to allow left turns onto what is essentially the east the south ramp today. There would then be a similar east to north left turn light added for the current west to north ramp. I think there were other changes as part of the plan but I cannot recall them.

[bomberjet]

Note the City may go ahead with some form of that plan for the St. James Bridges, even if the full route 90 widening does not go ahead for some time. They will ne to do repairs to the bridges at least, so may involve doing some of the modifications. The east to south ramp is deadly.

[wags_in_the_peg]

not many years away from 1million population and the airport will see more traffic, Polo Park housing / retail will see more customers and employees all need to service both of these. Yes I know we need to "drive" less but we also need to ensure we can move around at a SAFE and efficient time. let's get moving on this!

[optimusREIM]

Reviewing that plan, if they're essentially gonna carve up the neighbourhood a la freeway anyways, might as well give us the benefits of a free-flowing roadway while we're at it. Already destroying the connectivity of the neighbourhood by creating a massive block-wide stroad.

Trench it deep enough so grade-level streets and sightlines are uninterrupted, add a bunch of AT connectivity, and Bob's your uncle.

[bomberjet]

The City has precisely zero dollars for that work. But ya. it would make more sense to just build overpasses of some sort for the current 4 lane set-up.

Winnipeg seems to just ignore building bridges and go with elaborate expansion plans instead. They don't even really look at it. the budget was like half a billion for that route 90 widening project. And thats probably 5 years ago already.

[trueviking]

^ will never happen.

[bomberjet]

It's on Scooter's hit list. So if he has any gumption, it might happen in some form.

[DonaldSmith]

2140 Portage Ave. - https://theparkbridge.com/

[esquire]

Originally Posted by DonaldSmith

2140 Portage Ave. - https://theparkbridge.com/

At first glance I wouldn't say that it's a looker, but it does seem to fit right in with a lot of the midcentury buildings along that stretch of Portage.

[Biff]

It is on an empty grass lot. It works in my books.

[wags_in_the_peg]

love it, so much density in that area, nice to see newer places coming on board. how does a riverfront empty lot sit empty for so long

[wardlow]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

love it, so much density in that area, nice to see newer places coming on board. how does a riverfront empty lot sit empty for so long

Airport area regulations prevented new residential on this part of Portage Avenue for the past 30 or so years, until that changed in 2021.

Glad this property didn't become a strip mall or drive-thru during that time.

[Biff]

There have also been developers in that general area that have been scared off due to a sewer issue. Any substantial sized development has been required by the City to pay for a pretty big chunk of the sewer upgrades that they wouldn't ordinarily have to do in other areas. Has made most proposed projects cost prohibitive.

[Winnipegger]

Originally Posted by Biff

There have also been developers in that general area that have been scared off due to a sewer issue. Any substantial sized development has been required by the City to pay for a pretty big chunk of the sewer upgrades that they wouldn't ordinarily have to do in other areas. Has made most proposed projects cost prohibitive.

It's probably cheaper for the city in the long run to fix the sewer itself to accommodate development there as opposed to putting the equivalent amount of units in greenfield that has 1,000 kms of road per resident. But you know, that would require someone to do some math...not the city's strong suit.

[trueviking]

Towne Theatre is up for sale and has a caveat that it can't be sold to a movie theatre operator.

[trueviking]

building on Portage looks good...the surface parking all around it not so much.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Towne Theatre is up for sale and has a caveat that it can't be sold to a movie theatre operator.

So downtown Winnipeg is down to one movie screen now... Cinematheque. Same number as Gimli.

You can't see a mainstream movie at a theatre in downtown Winnipeg anymore. In some respects it's hard to believe that it's come to this.

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by esquire

So Downtown Winnipeg is down to one movie screen now... Cinematheque. Same number as Gimli.

You can't see a mainstream movie at a theatre downtown Winnipeg anymore. In some respects it's hard to believe that it's come to this.

If only the Cineplex Junxion at KP was built somewhere in Downtown instead. Oh well.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by esquire

So downtown Winnipeg is down to one movie screen now... Cinematheque. Same number as Gimli.

You can't see a mainstream movie at a theatre in downtown Winnipeg anymore. In some respects it's hard to believe that it's come to this.

I think it's pretty common, except maybe in larger cities. Small artsy movie theatres and little else.

I suppose if people had packed the Towne it wouldn't have closed. I know I hadn't been there for years. Can anyone here say they were a regular movie-goer at the Towne?