Winnipeg | Portage and Main

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by CoryB

We went through similar about 15 years ago when Main St we being refurbished and it 100% caused the exact sort of delays Winnipeg Transit said would happen by opening Portage and Main to pedestrians. At the time I worked just off Portage and Main and commuted by transit. It was faster to get home by walking up Notre Dame to HSC than to catch the same bus in downtown Winnipeg.

As I have long said, before opening Portage and Main to pedestrians we need a city wide rapid transit network that will not be impacted by changes to that intersection. Then we people have a true alternative to single passengers vehicles that is going to get them to their destination faster the impact on those vehicles becomes irrelevant. As we are still dragging our feet on a second rapid transit route and haven't done any spur lines of the existing one to say Linden Woods/Whyte Ridge or BridgeWater/SouthPointe it is telling that rapid transit isn't a priority.

It is time to face that there are five traffic flows going through Portage and Main currently and they all need to be accounted for in any purposed change and the study needs to look at traffic impacts for more than just that one intersection.

We don’t need a city wide rapid transit network to open Portage & Main. We just need Rapid Transit infrastructure from Higgins to Marion on Main St, and on Portage until U of W before it can be quite feasible. Saying we need to spend $1 billion just to open up an intersection is a stretch.

[Wpg_Guy]

The engagement survey for Portage and Main is live and it’s comical! Sky gardens, elevators & massive public monuments oh my!

https://engage.winnipeg.ca/portageandmain

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

The engagement survey for Portage and Main is live and it’s comical! Sky gardens, elevators & massive public monuments oh my!

https://engage.winnipeg.ca/portageandmain

Thanks for posting that. I took the survey. It's good, with some sensible options.

To me, lighting improvements seem like an absolute no-brainer. I also liked the edge-to-edge paving (the paving at that intersection looks like crap right now) and the monumental public art idea. I like the idea of adding more trees but I wonder how well they would do in that location? It doesn't seem like a place where trees would thrive.

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by esquire

Thanks for posting that. I took the survey. It's good, with some sensible options.

To me, lighting improvements seem like an absolute no-brainer. I also liked the edge-to-edge paving (the paving at that intersection looks like crap right now) and the monumental public art idea. I like the idea of adding more trees but I wonder how well they would do in that location? It doesn't seem like a place where trees would thrive.

The only tree I think that could grow with the amounts of shade, wind, and hardscape on the site would be the Manitoba Maple.

Some tall grasses like big bluestem would be nice to have on P&M tho.

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by esquire

Thanks for posting that. I took the survey. It's good, with some sensible options.

To me, lighting improvements seem like an absolute no-brainer. I also liked the edge-to-edge paving (the paving at that intersection looks like crap right now) and the monumental public art idea. I like the idea of adding more trees but I wonder how well they would do in that location? It doesn't seem like a place where trees would thrive.

I liked all the ideas that did not include elevators, viewing platforms and the sky gardens, an iconic piece of art at the intersection is also not a horrible idea.

The street edge concepts do look good.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

See that the deep thinkers have once again reimagined that opening P & M is the panacea for what ails downtown Winnipeg!

Open Portage and Main and make Winnipeg Great Again!

Only in Winnipeg would the city centre's main intersection be a no-go for pedestrians. Imagine Yonge & Bloor in Toronto; Times Square in NYC; West Georgia and Burrard in Vancouver, etc. being behind barriers.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Only in Winnipeg would the city centre's main intersection be a no-go for pedestrians. Imagine Yonge & Bloor in Toronto; Times Square in NYC; West Georgia and Burrard in Vancouver, etc. being behind barriers.

What do those cities have that Winnipeg doesn't?

Unfortunately P & M is the choke point in our inadequate road system, blame past elected officials going back to the 1950's for not coming up with adequate alternatives for moving traffic from NE, NW Winnipeg to both south and west Winnipeg!

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

What do those cities have that Winnipeg doesn't?

Unfortunately P & M is the choke point in our inadequate road system, blame past elected officials going back to the 1950's for not coming up with adequate alternatives for moving traffic from NE, NW Winnipeg to both south and west Winnipeg!

I assume you are referring to freeways. Except for a very small stretch of TCH-1 which traverses the north-eastern fringe of Vancouver, there are no freeways in Vancouver. West Georgia is the main artery through D/T Vancouver; funnelling North Shore traffic to other parts in the city. Burrard St leads to the Burrard Street Bridge; moving traffic out of the downtown core to points south and west; all the while with pedestrian crossings at every intersection.

[GreyGarden]

All the overhead ideas are just so silly, wasteful and exhausting. Let’s get rid of sunlight on the sidewalk, and you know that beautiful BMO building, let’s put a big tower or bridge in front of it.

Better lighting is good. Trees are good. Public art is good. I guess “better” barriers are an improvement. I did the survey and found it funny that they asked about vibrancy. I also thought it was funny that they think food carts and pop-up businesses will be viable at an intersection that is closed to pedestrians. The aesthetic improvements will be good, but this whole thing kind of illustrates how unserious the city is about creating nice places.

[pspeid]

I think some of the proposals such as the overhead ring-walkways are obviously blue-skying, and there's nothing wrong with that IMO. The proposals for the street lighting and improved street scaping are certainly achievable and, I think, can make a positive impact on P & M. The "Light Poles with Canopies" option was appealing to me.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by pspeid

I think some of the proposals such as the overhead ring-walkways are obviously blue-skying, and there's nothing wrong with that IMO.

It's blue skying, but it's not even good blue skying. Building an elevated platform, or lookout towers (wtf) will actively make the intersection even worse.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

I assume you are referring to freeways. Except for a very small stretch of TCH-1 which traverses the north-eastern fringe of Vancouver, there are no freeways in Vancouver. West Georgia is the main artery through D/T Vancouver; funnelling North Shore traffic to other parts in the city. Burrard St leads to the Burrard Street Bridge; moving traffic out of the downtown core to points south and west; all the while with pedestrian crossings at every intersection.

Vancouver is a bad example because traffic there is total shitshow!

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by esquire

It's blue skying, but it's not even good blue skying. Building an elevated platform, or lookout towers (wtf) will actively make the intersection even worse.

I see what you mean, they aren't very inspirational. Were they included, perhaps, to make the "tame" proposals of lights/trees/better sidewalks more palatable? Or were they added because people expected a mix of "pragmatic" and "fanciful" ideas?

Either way it seems that Gillingham is behind some measure of P & M beautification, and he doesn't seem to object to the "partial" opening. At least he isn't proposing another "non-binding plebiscite".

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

I assume you are referring to freeways. Except for a very small stretch of TCH-1 which traverses the north-eastern fringe of Vancouver, there are no freeways in Vancouver. West Georgia is the main artery through D/T Vancouver; funnelling North Shore traffic to other parts in the city. Burrard St leads to the Burrard Street Bridge; moving traffic out of the downtown core to points south and west; all the while with pedestrian crossings at every intersection.

Technically, you are correct. Then again, technically, the City of Winnipeg has more people than the City of Vancouver.

However, you are being disingenuous by deliberately excluding Vancouver's suburbs, which include 3 freeways. City boundaries are useless, when the majority of the population lives in it's suburbs. Plus, nearly every city in Canada, sans Vancouver, has amalgamated at some point.

[trueviking]

Sometimes I enjoy Winnipeg for its pure comedic value. That public consultation is hilarious.

Gillingham has nothing to do with this. The project started two years ago.

[trueviking]

I don’t really understand why they took ridiculous proposals to public consultation. We aren’t going to build any of those things so why are we wasting everyone’s time. What do they hope to get from this exercise. We all like giant floating doughnuts? Great. Now what.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I don’t really understand why they took ridiculous proposals to public consultation. We aren’t going to build any of those things so why are we wasting everyone’s time. What do they hope to get from this exercise. We all like giant floating doughnuts? Great. Now what.

What, no water park over P & M with ethnicity and gender based pricing!?

[bomberjet]

I actually don't mind the street portion of what they showed. But all the literal pie in the sky shit is ridiculous and frankly embarrassing.

And then this really made me face palm. Oy vey..

Accessible directions to pop-up #2

Enter 330 Main Street (there is a drop-off area in front of this building).
Go through the double doors and turn right; the elevators are on the right side of the hallway.
Take the elevator to C – Concourse / Winnipeg Square.
Turn right when leaving the elevators.
Follow the concourse to the Portage & Main circus.
Go through the doors and press the “call car” button to take the elevator down.
Turn left when leaving the elevator to find the pop-up.

[BlackDog204]

[trueviking]

Yeah. The street stuff like lighting and paving patterns is fine but do we really need city wide public consultation for it? Just do those things. Who cares.