Fact Sheet 
Portage and Main 
 
Background 
 
● Portage and Main was completely closed to pedestrians in October, 1979 
● Result of a deal between the city and developers, Trizec Corporation 
● Purpose was to drive pedestrians to underground mall in exchange for two, 
multi-storey towers, hotel, underground mall and bank. 
● City had to demolish several buildings and agree to barricades for 40 years 
● Considerable opposition to the idea at the time 
● Traffic at the time was reported to be gridlock and some wanted pedestrians 
banned 
● City was in recession, core was losing people to suburbs 
● Project was seen as a way to address fading retail in the downtown 
● City planners also hoped it would drive traffic downtown to stay. Instead, the 
opposite happened - traffic drove through downtown 
● One tower was built 
● Bank building was built 
● Underground retail concourse was built 
● Barriers were built 
● Hotel, second tower were not built 
● Second tower started construction in 2017 at 300 Main Street 
● Brian Bowman pledged to re-open the intersection to pedestrians if elected 
● Once elected, the city moved forward with the idea 
● City negotiated reopening the barriers with four owners of buildings on corner 
● All four building owners have agreed to allowing the barriers to be removed 
● Considerable local public opposition to the idea 
● Coun. Jeff Browaty called for plebiscite on the issue for Oct. 24 election 
● Mayor Brian Bowman agreed to treat plebiscite as legally binding if re-elected 
● The barriers and infrastructure around Portage and Main are deteriorating and need 
repair and/or replacement 
 
Costs/Numbers 
 
● $6.1 million - the cost of ​removing the barriers​ with room for cost overruns 
● $5.5 million - the cost of new buses and routes for Transit 
● $3 million to unknown​ - the estimated cost of ​repairing​ the barriers and refreshing 
infrastructure at Portage and Main 
● $80 million - Price tag of ​closing​ Portage and Main, building retail in 1979 (About 
$267M today). City paid for half of that. 
● $1.1 billion - 2018 total budget for City of Winnipeg 
● 1 per cent ​- percentage Portage and Main project takes from City budget 
● 45 - Number of shops/restaurants underground in Winnipeg Square 
● 15,000 - people within 100 metres of Portage/Main during weekdays, making it 
densest area of city 
● 300-400 - Number of people crossing Portage/Main per hour during morning peak 
hours 
● 500 - Number of people crossing Portage/Main per hour during evening peak hours 
● 5 - number of scenarios analysed for pedestrian crossings at Portage and Main 
● 50-60% - time saved by pedestrians with disabilities 
● 0 % - time saved by able-bodied pedestrians 
● 33 seconds​ - average increase in time for cars to travel through Portage and Main 
● 54 seconds​ - average increase in time for cars to get through downtown via Portage 
and Main 
● 5,855 - 6,240 - number of cars crossing per hour and peak times currently 
● 6,000 - number of estimated cars crossing per hour at peak times if barriers are 
removed 
● 2,000 - number of pedestrians crossing per hour at peak times if barriers are 
removed 
● 81,000 - cars travelling through Portage and Main daily  
● 90,000 - cars travelling through Regent and Lagimodiere daily 
● $186,000 ​- cost of two studies into opening Portage and Main 
● 24-19​ - City council’s vote to close Portage and Main to pedestrians 40 years ago 
● Three closest intersections in the Top 20 for pedestrian/car collisions in past 5 
years - Donald and Ellice (9), Broadway and Main (6), Main and York (5) 
● 500+ - number of car-free intersections or zones in major populated areas 
● Unknown - number of at-grade intersections barred to pedestrians 
● 129,704 - The number of cars that cross Canada’s busiest intersection in Toronto at 
Yonge (pronounced YOUNG) and Dundas daily 
● 100,000 - The number of pedestrians that cross Canada’s busiest intersection daily 
● Yonge uses a scramble pedestrian system 
 
 
 
 
Pedestrians 
 
● At peak hours, about 2,000 people will cross the intersection 
● The Dillon Report analyzed three different ways to move people across the 
intersection 
● Alternative 1 - Adding pedestrian crossings at all four sides 
● Alternative 2 - Adding pedestrian crossings at all four sides, but not allowing right 
turns when pedestrians are crossing 
● Alternative 3 - Adding pedestrian crossings at all sides except the North side 
● Alternative 1 shown to be the best in terms of acceptable level of pedestrian safety 
and ease of crossing 
● Analysis shows that in most cases, the time saved by not going underground is 
balanced by time spent waiting for signals to cross for able-bodied persons 
● For disabled people, time spent crossing will be reduced by 50 - 60 per cent 
● Canada’s busiest intersection, Yonge and Dundas in Toronto, sees 100,000 
pedestrians daily 
● Yonge uses a scramble pedestrian system 
● Portage and Main is too large for a scramble crossing and would have a large 
negative impact to stop traffic in all directions 
 
Transit - Times are based on getting through entire model, not just Portage and Main 
 
● No matter how pedestrians are introduced at Portage and Main, there will be a 
negative impact on Transit. 
● The Dillon Report analyzed three different ways to move people  
● Alternative 1 shown to have the least amount of effect on transit 
● Some buses will see a decrease in travel time of up to 42 seconds, while others will 
see an increase of up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds 
● While these time delays may seem insignificant, it has a compounding effect on the 
number of people on a bus.  
● The Dillon report says $5.5 million will be needed for additional buses and routes. 
 
Safety
 
● There is no increase in risk to safety for car-on-car accidents 
● There will be an increase in vehicle-pedestrian accidents risk to safety for 
pedestrians, where currently the risk is zero. Risk will be same as other major 
intersections nearby 
● Closest intersections in Top 20 for pedestrians hit ​over past five years​ - Donald 
Street & Ellice (9), Main and Broadway (5), Main and York (5) 
● There is a decrease in risk for on-street crime for pedestrians, as removing the 
barriers will open sightlines 
 ● Pedestrians with disabilities will have access to the street and will not be hindered 
by buildings closed after business hours or elevators with mechanical issues 
 
Traffic - Times are based on getting through entire model, not just Portage and Main 
 
● No matter how pedestrians are introduced at Portage and Main, there will be a 
negative impact on vehicular traffic 
● The Dillon Report analyzed three different ways to move people across the 
intersection 
● Alternative 1 - Adding pedestrian crossings at all four sides 
● Alternative 1 shown to have the least effect on traffic 
● Alternative 1 shows a​ decrease of seven seconds​ for cars travelling on Portage 
eastbound and turning left onto Main 
● Alternative 1 shows an ​increase of 5 minutes and 10 seconds​ for cars travelling 
north on Main street and turning right onto Portage Avenue East 
● Average​ increase in time to get through Portage and Main is 33 seconds 
● The Dillon report recommends ​eliminating right turns for cars heading north on 
Main Street​ and turning right onto Portage Avenue East as alternatives are close by, 
it would be safer for pedestrians, reduce interference for transit and would 
eliminate a lengthy delay for those vehicles when waiting for pedestrians. 
● Eliminating that right turn would also allow the city to reclaim space for sidewalks 
● The Dillon report recommends a Leading Pedestrian Interval - giving pedestrians a 
quick head start to cross before cars can start turning right 
● Canada’s busiest intersection, Yonge and Dundas in Toronto, sees 129,704 cars daily 
 
Who is in favour? 
 
● Mayor Brian Bowman 
● Coun. Jenny Gerbasi 
● Coun. Mike Pagtakhan 
● Coun. Matt Allard 
● Coun. Scott Gillingham 
● Coun. Cindy Gilroy 
● Coun Brian Mayes 
● Coun. Marty Morantz 
● Coun. John Orlikow 
● Coun. Devi Sharma 
● Candidate Chris Clacio 
● Coalition for Portage and Main 
● Society of Manitobans For Disabilities 
● Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce 
● Frank Sherlock, Exec. VP, Artis REIT 
● Dave Finnbogason, VP Corp.Dev., James Richardson & Sons 
Who is opposed? 
 
● Coun. Jeff Browaty 
● Coun. Shawn Dobson 
● Coun. Janice Lukes  
● Coun. Ross Eadie 
● Coun. Jason Schreyer 
● Candidate Jenny Motkaluk 
● Candidate Umar Hayat 
● Candidate Don Woodstock 
● Candidate Tim Diack 
● Candidate Desmond Thomas 
● Candidate Venkat Machiraju 
● Candidate Doug Wilson 
● Amalgamated transit Union Local 1505 
● Manitoba Trucking Association 
 
Top 10 Intersections by car volume - P&M is No. 3 
   
  
Rank  Intersection  24 hour Weekday vehicle 
volumes 

1  Lagimodiere Blvd & Regent Ave W  90,000 

2  Moray St & Portage Ave  83,000 

3  Main St & Portage Ave  81,000 

4  Waverley St & Bishop Grandin Blvd  80,000 

5  Kenaston Blvd & Sterling Lyon Pkwy  79,000 

6  Century St & Ness Ave  78,000 

7  St Mary's Rd & Bishop Grandin Blvd  76,000 

8  Queen Elizabeth Way & Stradbrook  74,000 

Ave 

9  Pembina Hwy & Corydon Ave  73,000 

10  Kenaston Blvd & Grant Ave  73,000 

 
 
 
Top Four intersections by size 
 
● Kenaston and Sterling Lyon - 46 m (150.5 feet) 
● McGillvray and Waverley - 40.2 m (133.4 feet) 
● Lagimodiere and Regent Avenue - 37 m (121.5 feet) 
● Kenaston and McGillvray - 32.2 m (106.4 feet) 
  
Top Three intersections by length of time for pedestrian crossing  
 
● McGillvary and Waverley: crossing McGillivray is 7 sec of Walk + 40 sec of Flashing 
Don’t Walk = ​47 sec 
● McGillvray and 200m W of Kenaston : crossing McGillivray is 7 sec of Walk + 35 sec 
of Flashing Don’t Walk = ​42 sec 
● Kenaston and Sterling Lyon: crossing Kenaston is 5 sec of Walk + 35 sec of Flashing 
Don’t Walk = ​40 sec 
 
Quiz Questions 
 
1) Why was Portage and Main closed 40 years ago? 
a) Too many people were being hit by cars 
b) It was a business deal to funnel people to an underground mall 
c) Pedestrians were backing up traffic 
d) Cities around the world were blocking their major intersections 
2) What is the total estimated cost of removing the barriers? 
a) $1.1 million 
b) $11 million 
c) $101 million 
d) $200 million 
3) How much longer would the average commute be for cars? 
a) 54 seconds 
b) 18 seconds 
c) 3 minutes 22 seconds 
d) 5 minutes 10 seconds 
 
Sources 
 
● Dillon Report 
● Winnipeg Tribune 
● City of Winnipeg/Winnipeg Police Service/Council minutes 
● Jino Distasio, University of Winnipeg Institute of Urban Studies, Director 
● West End Dumplings Historical Blog 
● Winnipeg Architecture Foundation 
● Wikipedia