[CoryB]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Going to/from the Fairmont, going to/from points in the east Exchange, going to/from Shaw Park. Sure there are detours that can get you around having to go underground, but they aren't necessarily obvious to visitors.

Part of the issue here is the pathetic state of the underground system, including the legs that branch off the P&M concourse like Winnipeg Square. The Lombard Place leg is in decent shape, I'll give them credit. But the rest of it is mostly vacant units, 70s brown tiles and dark, empty spaces that look like crap. It feels abandoned any time other than 11:00-1:00 on weekdays.

1. Let's be real here as Shaw Park has very limited attendance from pedestrians. I would guess that the majority of those are coming from the condos in the East Exchange as that is one of the fewer spots that is within the five block walkable range.

2. East Exchange and the west part of downtown see near zero pedestrian traffic and changing the flow at Portage and Main will not change that as the East Exchange is well outside that five block range most people consider to be walkable. If Portage and Main is open or closed to pedestrian it doesn't change how far the Waterfront Dr condos are from Canada Life Centre for example. Further, the East Exchange to the west of Main downtown you would cross Main St at McDermot. No major detour needed.

3. Sounds like you haven't been in the underground part of the walkways in over five years. Both Winnipeg Square and 201 Portage Ave (formerly TD Building) completed major renos of their spaces long before the pandemic hit and are nearly fully occupied outside of maybe some pandemic related vacancies but find me a place that didn't experience those. With the Metis Federation having taken ownership of the southeast corner I am sure that will have its own renovations soon just leaving the City owned circus portion with its dated feeling. As the membrane between the ceiling on the circus and the ground level above reportedly needs replacement I doubt it sees any changes until that work is completed. And like it or not that work will need to be completed one way or another on tax payer dime and opening Portage and Main to pedestrians won't make that major bill go away.

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

A few things.

1. Portage and Main being a terrible experience for pedestrians and being primarily a thoroughfare for cars is why there hasn't been development on the East of Main St. You make it easier and more convenient for pedestrians to cross Portage and Main all of a sudden it opens development opportunities. I recall Glen Murray saying that by keeping Portage & Main closed we are losing $100s of millions in terms of investment toward developing said area.

The East Exchange area is fully developed and that won't change. Reality is all this "development" east of Main is essentially the building the hotel was planning to convert on the south side of Portage E and the parking lots between the rail line and Westbrook. There is not a lot of development potential that is being "held back" by the current state of Portage and Main.

As for those it thoroughfares, they were built on the edges of downtown with the core area being west of Main, south of Portage and east of Osborne. Notice how outside of a few office buildings on Portage Ave and on Main St near City Hall that captures the majority of the downtown office area?

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

2. Pedestrians on average would walk 400m. A 400m radius from Portage & Main includes City Hall, Canada Life Centre, Shaw Park, 300 Main, Police HQ, and of course the cluster of office buildings within the area. It is essentially our financial district and if you've seen financial districts of other cities its usually where the highest levels of pedestrian activity occur. You fill in those parking lots and P&M becomes a happening place once again.

I strongly disagree with you there and the employment numbers of Winnipeg and Manitoba also do not support you either. The #1 employer locally is the Provincal government. The top local employer is the Power Corp. Another major local employer of office staff is Skip the Dishes. All three are located outside the 400m Portage and Main radius and 2 of the 3 are for the large part well outside of that radius. Only Skip the Dishes is close and even it is just outside that raidus.

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

3. We can't only think of pedestrians. Cyclists exist as well, and opening up the crossing for Portage & Main also means adding bike lanes on Portage & Main. Pedestrians might only go a few blocks, but Polo Park is only 5km away from P&M and most people can make that cycle trip in under 30 mins.

Portage and Main is open to cyclists as it stands today. Next.

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

4. Most importantly Portage & Main is expected to be a transit hub serving every single one of our future rapid transit lines which means large amounts of people will need to walk to and from Portage & Main. Therefore, there needs to be adequate pedestrian infrastructure that can handle large volumes of pedestrians in which my response is that a scramble crossing is the only appropriate solution for P&M

Yet when the proposal to open Portage and Main to pedestrians was sent to public vote one of the loudest voices opposing the change was Winnipeg Transit as they had access to enough information to see how this dumb proposal would completely cripple the downtown road network and negatively impact public transit travel times.

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

So while Portage & Main being opened today isn't an absolute emergency (still requires high urgency) it will become a necessity even 5 years down the line should we as a city want to develop and revitalize our core.

Strongly disagree. Other than the pressing need to address the street literally falling into the walkways opening Portage and Main to pedestrians is such a low priority and what downtown Winnipeg overall needs our great grandchildren could be having this same discussion with very little having changed. The other thing that should be addressed is making the existing walkway system more accessible to people with limited mobility.