The decision to keep an iconic intersection closed in our prairie city had writers at a prominent US newspaper raising their eyebrows.
Titled “On Foot and Underground at Canada’s Crossroads“, the plebiscite result for Portage and Main wound up as a headline at the New York Times.
“At a time when many Canadian cities are moving to make themselves more amenable to pedestrians, it seems a perhaps quixotic decision,” wrote author Ian Austen.
“But it may also reflect tensions between drivers, pedestrians and cyclists that are bubbling up throughout Canada.”
Austen went through the history of the intersection in the article before comparing it to their iconic intersection, Times Square.
“But like Times Square in New York, Portage and Main was where Winnipeg’s citizens gathered to mark the end of wars,” Austen wrote.
The 40-year-old closure prompted Austen to remark about other controversial Canadian streets.
“Ottawa’s Sparks Street, which has no motor traffic, becomes a wasteland once the public servants who work near it go home each afternoon.”
WATCH: Through the years: images of Winnipeg’s historic intersection