An ‘identity war’ at the crossroads of Canada
WINNIPEG DEBATE ON INTERSECTION’S FUTURE REFLECTS WIDER DEBATE FOR CITY’S VISION
Winnipeg’s Portage and Main has been called the crossroads of Canada, a fabled intersection whose name evokes both the voyages of the country’s early inhabitants and the bustle of an urban centre.
But for nearly 40 years, the only thing passing over Portage and Main has been car traffic, and its sidewalks have become deserted. Concrete barriers, forbidding signs and the absence of pedestrian crossings have forced Winnipeggers into underground passages to navigate the crossing.
Now the question of whether it is time to tear down the barriers and let pedestrians cross has become a divisive issue leading up to October’s municipal election, after city council voted last month to put it to a referendum.
“It’s become almost some kind of identity war. 'What side are you on?'” said Winnipeg architect Brent Bellamy, a spokesman for the campaign lobbying to open up the intersection. “It’s not even about the intersection anymore. For those who want it open, it’s about what kind of city do you want in the future, and for the others, it’s like, ‘I believe in this kind of car-driving city.’ ”
It was 1979 when the city shut Portage and Main to pedestrians, part of a deal with developers who had built an underground shopping plaza into which they wanted people funnelled. Today the concourse, designed by a city planner who also had a hand in Montreal’s underground city, is showing its age.
In an interview with the National Post, Bellamy called it “a glorified food court,” then corrected himself: “Actually, it’s not glorified.”
Mayor Brian Bowman, whose winning platform in the 2014 election campaign called for the intersection to be opened up, said the trip beneath the intersection can take 10 minutes for someone in a wheelchair. Even locals get confused trying to find their way through the passageways, he said, never mind the tourists.
“I know the Fairmont hotel, which is right at Portage and Main, they regularly have to provide instructions to visitors on how to cross the street,” Bowman said.
When it rains, he added, water drips into the concourse, creating issues with mould and asbestos.
“And at street level there are busted curbs and rebar sticking out,” the mayor said. “It is not living up to the iconic nature of one of Canada’s most historic intersections.”
And yet victory in the referendum is far from assured. A 2016 Probe Research poll found that 53 per cent of Winnipeg adults wanted the pedestrian barricades to remain, compared with 42 per cent who wanted them taken down.
Jeff Browaty, a city councillor intent on defeating Bowman’s plan for an open intersection, proposed the referendum along with colleague Janice Lukes in order to “finish this debate once and for all.” He is confident that when Winnipeggers are informed of the costs and benefits, they will choose the status quo.
“Portage and Main does have some cachet. It does have some recognition beyond Winnipeg,” Browaty said. “Unfortunately it’s such a major part of our transportation network that it’s not really practical to impede vehicle movements through it.”
Bellamy cites a traffic study the city released last year projecting that pedestrian crossings would result in just 30 additional seconds in travelling time for morning commuters and about 50 seconds in the afternoon.
But Browaty said that the extra time would be considerably longer for drivers turning at the intersection, and even Bowman acknowledged that further study is needed to assess the impact on traffic.
Earlier this year, Browaty referred to the proponents of opening the intersection as “elites,” implying they are out of touch with the concerns of average residents. He now says that was the wrong word.
But he argues that many of the people lobbying for change do not actually use the intersection. And he thinks they are nostalgic for a lost era, before the arrival of malls and big box stores, when the intersection was a hopping retail hub.
“Opening Portage and Main isn’t going to bring all of that back,” he said. “We’re not recreating 1950s Winnipeg by opening Portage and Main. I think that’s where some of the Yes people are trying to go.”
Bellamy said Browaty is trying to “polarize the electorate” when everybody should be concerned about the obstacles the current configuration poses to the disabled and the danger women face when crossing at night.
“It definitely feels dark and it smells like urine and you’re completely alone,” he said, inadvertently coining the ideal slogan to keep people away.
Bowman has faced criticism for voting in favour of the referendum instead of simply pushing ahead with proposed changes, but he said any major change takes time. One sign of progress is that the five major property owners at the intersection support removing the pedestrian barriers.
The city continues to evolve, with more people than ever living downtown. During the Winnipeg Jets’ playoff run last spring, police were forced to close the intersection to traffic as tens of thousands of fans streamed to the city’s heart to celebrate victories. Bowman hopes a Yes vote on Oct. 24 will send “a very powerful signal of renewal and revitalization in our downtown and the fact that Winnipeg’s downtown is not the stereotype that many Canadians may have of our city.”
Opponents fearing a slower drive need to look at their city differently, he said.
“What I’ve argued is that downtown shouldn’t just be about how fast you can get through it. It should be a place where you want to go and spend some time.”
As things now stand, even Portage and Main’s biggest boosters have to go underground to make their pitch. The Yes side will be working out of donated space in the concourse, Bellamy said, laughing at the idea of a streetlevel headquarters. “It would be hilarious to do it above ground," he said, "because no one would see us.”