All over map on Portage and Main Councillors support reopening, but plans vary

By: Aldo Santin

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/all-over-map-on-portage-and-main-2502...

Hopes for reopening Portage and Main to pedestrians are still alive at city hall but councillors are all over the map on the issue.

Three of four councillors on the public works committee -- Jenny Gerbasi, Devi Sharma and Dan Vandal -- voted Thursday to keep the concept alive but later they each had their own version of the wording.

It may not have mattered so much to chairman Justin Swandel -- he was the lone voter against the motion.

Gerbasi was the most vocal supporter of reopening the intersection, saying city council has to champion the concept if it's ever to become a reality.

"I think there is some real momentum on this," Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said. "It's a question of political will."

Gerbasi wanted the committee to vote on a motion that would forward the issue to the standing downtown committee, which would take the lead in pushing it ahead.

The intersection was closed off to pedestrians when the property owners on the corner built the underground complex. The deal expires in 2019 but Swandel said any one of the property owners can trigger a 40-year extension.

Swandel (St. Norbert) said the city has to first convince the property owners to reopen the intersection or all their efforts will be wasted.

Vandal (St. Boniface) repeatedly asked for the wording of the motion before voting; Gerbasi kept changing the wording and said it should include everything everyone was talking about, as long as the priority was reopening the intersection to pedestrians.

It was left to the committee clerk to piece together everything that was said and to formally write out a motion to be included in the meeting minutes.

Stephanie Voyce of the Downtown BIZ appeared as a delegation in support of the reopening.

Voyce said the BIZ favours a one-year pilot opening, where the various options considered in an administrative report could be tried and the impact on businesses on the street and in the underground can be seen.

Swandel said Gerbasi was focused on reopening the intersection, whereas he believed the issue should be to develop ways to make the famous corner more pedestrian-friendly, including reopening it to pedestrians if possible.

Swandel said all hopes for reviving the intersection die if Gerbasi's narrow goal of reopening the intersection fails.

Gerbasi countered there have been numerous studies examining the intersection and they all conclude reopening the intersection is the key to luring more pedestrians, adding other initiatives will only complement the reopening.

An administrative report examined options for reopening the intersection to pedestrians but staff comments showed they weren't supportive of the idea.

The report ruled out a "scramble" crossing -- where traffic lights in all directions are red for a period of time to allow people to cross as they like -- but said other crossing methods should be studied further before any decision is made to commit to reopening the intersection.

A public works official said more than 200,000 people drive through the intersection every day in vehicles, while the department estimated only about 1,000 people would cross the intersection on a daily basis if it were reopened.

"That puts everything into context," said Luis Escobar, the city's traffic czar.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca Different wordings

The public works committee voted to support the reopening of Portage and Main to pedestrians. The Free Press asked each of the councillors what they thought was the wording of the motion they were voting on:

*Jenny Gerbasi:* "It's not word for word but I can tell you the essence was to take the steps, to bring forward potential steps needed to open the barriers and allow pedestrians at Portage and Main, and then it goes through the different steps that can be taken; it leaves some flexibility on how that happens." Voted in favour.

*Justin Swandel: *"From the perspective of opening the intersection, move forward to the standing policy committee on downtown development, heritage and riverbank, with the specific pieces that were in the old report -- consulting with the owners, working with the traffic study; there were two other pieces in there, and then also including the overall design, that was the last piece of the motion." Voted against.

*Devi Sharma: *"There were many things that were incorporated into that motion but the important thing is we're moving this forward and to have further discussion, analysis and consultation and that's what it's all about." Voted in favour.

*Dan Vandal: *"The spirit of the motion was, with the goal of bringing back pedestrian traffic to Portage and Main, to begin engaging the private property owners and CentreVenture, and... we should also take into consideration making design improvements for pedestrian-oriented design improvements, and when the time is appropriate, public works will do the necessary traffic study so we have some buy-in." Voted in favour.

* * * * *

Following the meeting, the committee clerk prepared the following motion to be recorded in the minutes:

The standing policy committee on infrastructure renewal and public works further directed the Winnipeg public service to commence with the following aiming to potentially open Portage Avenue and Main Street to pedestrian access:

1. Initiate discussions with the relevant property owners adjacent to the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street regarding implementation and process with the goal of allowing pedestrians at grade at this intersection.

2. Engage with stakeholders to include consultations and research as applicable.

3. Prepare terms of reference for a comprehensive traffic study at the appropriate time.

-- Santin

*Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 14, 2014 B2*