Circular walkway, massive orb, towers among Portage and Main redesign optionsCity seeks public feedback on designs that would see existing barricades come down — without pedestrian access

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/portage-main-redesign-options-1.6821...

A circular walkway above Portage and Main, a massive orb and a quartet of lookout towers are among eight potential and in some cases fanciful redesign options for Winnipeg's most famous intersection.

The City of Winnipeg is seeking public opinions about new designs that would see the existing concrete barricades at Portage Avenue and Main Street be replaced by a more esthetically pleasing streetscape that would still bar pedestrians from crossing at street level.

The city must remove the barricades as part of a multimillion-dollar repair job at the intersection, where a leaky membrane allows surface runoff to damage the underground pedestrian concourse.

The barricades are to be replaced as part of a broader redesign. The city has launched a public opinion survey https://engage.winnipeg.ca/portageandmain and will hold a pair of public events in May to solicit feedback on the options.

They include an above-ground walkway called a "sky garden," a hanging garden with no pedestrian access, lookout towers, a row of lights, a row of lights mixed with trees, new paving, both with and without trees, and a "monumental" orb at Portage and Main reminiscent of the laser pyramid floated by former mayor Susan Thompson after she left office.

None of the options are costed out in the survey, which is open until May 26.

The survey asks whether respondents live or work downtown.

The public events will be held May 10 in the lobby of 201 Portage Ave. from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and May 11 in the underground concourse, also from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The survey also asks what other amenities Winnipeggers wish to see at Portage and Main, such as food trucks and Indigenous programming.

The City of Winnipeg will make officials available to speak about the project this afternoon.

Portage and Main closed to pedestrians in 1979. Winnipeggers voted against reopening the intersection in a non-binding plebiscite in 2018.