Winnipegs Portage and Main intersection to reopen for pedestrians [Video]

Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham is planning to reopen Portage and Main, one of Canada’s most historic crossroads, to pedestrians for the first time in over four decades.

Often called the crossroads of Canada, because of the proximity to the longitudinal centre of the country, Portage and Main has been a nexus of debate across Manitoba: There are 16 lanes of car traffic and zero crosswalks.

Barricades have closed the intersection to pedestrian traffic at street level since 1979, forcing people to cross through an underground concourse, at another intersection a distance away, or to jaywalk.

Portage and Main marks the point at which two of Winnipeg’s largest thoroughfares, Portage Avenue and Main Street, connect downtown. It’s where the city cheered at war’s end, protested in the 1919 General Strike and celebrated the return of the city’s NHL team, the Winnipeg Jets.

Mr. Gillingham, who became mayor in 2022, said during …