PORTAGE AND MAIN CLOSURE
The following are excerpts from the documentary Dreams of Castles in the Sky:
The closure of Portage and Main to pedestrians has raged in controversy for 25 years.
CURRY MCMILLAN
Without pedestrians crossing Portage and Main it lost something. A number of people said that when they put the barriers up you took away the heart of Winnipeg.
DEBRA JOHNASON YOUNG
In cities that feel vibrant you see the people on the street. When you take them off the street it looks empty.
ARTHUR MAURO
I personally feel Portage and Main should be opened its perhaps the great intersection in Canada.
DOUG CLARK
There is no question about it is the one icon of Winnipeg that is known more than any other place or location.
ARTHUR MAURO
I think there are points at which traffic flow of vehicles ought not to be the deciding factor of the character of a place. Where there is a will there is a way.
DAVID ASPER
When they put the barricades up at Portage and Main it was part of an urban planning trend to try to move traffic in and out of the centre of the city faster. What I think experience has shown in the re-energization of downtown, is actually, congestion works better. It makes people feel safer and downtowns aren't freeways. My view is that we should reopen the intersection to pedestrian traffic and bring people back up above ground.
LAURA FURNIVAL
With the opening of the concourse we needed to be where the traffic was. Our customers said we don't like it down there; we don't like to bank underground. We want to go upstairs so we made a decision as a company to listen to our customers; we moved back upstairs.
Plans are underway to reopen the corner to pedestrians and to find ways to celebrate the corner. Only one building owner is opposed.
It's about time. Let's get on with it.
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