Contrary to concerns about cataclysmic traffic if the intersection of Portage and Main was opened to pedestrians, the actual impact was, well, almost nil.
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That fear made the intersection focus of countless newspaper columns, radio shows and bar-stool discussions. It made it an issue in the mayoral election of 2014, and the subject of an unsuccessful plebiscite in 2018.
The theme through these years was that change was too risky. Nothing happened until maintenance costs associated with the concourse under the intersection made the status quo too expensive. This past summer, traffic lights were installed in spite of the fear.
And in early December, about six months later, the city reported that … the traffic is fine.
Eight years ago Atlanta had part of a major freeway collapse, cutting it off completely in both directions for a month and a half. The impact on traffic was… not actually that bad. More people used the subway and otherwise adapted.
The lesson that we should’ve learned was that induced demand works both ways: if you destroy it they will fuckin’ deal with it.
There are probably a lot of lessons that could be learned from Portage & Main.
For the vast majority of the city’s population, it was a place to pass through, not a place to exist, and it was absurd to have a city-wide referendum on it (I’m against referendums in general, but that’s another discussion). Regional polling consistently showed that the people who actually live in the area supported re-opening the intersection to pedestrians.
The fears surrounding re-opening the intersection were stoked by former mayor Sam Katz for years, in the interest of cheap political points.
Sprinkle in some NIMBY businesses in the concourse below the interesection, and you have a recipe for inaction. Things only changed when they received a $74 million estimate to maintain the underground concourse.
Sam Katz was the worst thing to happen to Winnipeg. He should have been charged and jailed for all the crap he did.
Broken link?
Both links seem to work with Summit.
