The City of Winnipeg has laid out an ambitious timeline for the plan to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians.
After decades of closure and a failed plebiscite to re-open Winnipeg’s most famous intersection to foot traffic in 2018, Mayor Scott Gillingham announced a reversal of course in March, saying the city was losing millions the longer the underground concourse remained open.
The city said Friday that a construction contract is expected to be assigned on Nov. 8, with ground to be broken the following week.
The plan will include the demolition of the barrier walls at the intersection, the installation of new traffic lights, as well as updates to sidewalks, medians and curbs, with work expected to be complete by June 2025.
The goal would then be to allow pedestrians to cross by July 1 of next year. After that, the city plans to launch its new transit routes through the intersection.
“We want to have this intersection open to pedestrian traffic at the same time that the primary transit network and its feeder routes will be launched, at the end of June 2025,” Gillingham told 680 CJOB.
“So this work to open the intersection to foot traffic will coincide with the changes to our primary transit network.”