WINNIPEG – Is Portage and Main one of Canada’s Great Places?
The iconic intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street, the 150-year-old meeting point of two former Red River cart trails, has been nominated in the streets category of the Canadian Institute of Planners awards.
In the 2012 competition, Osborne Street won the People’s Choice award and Osborne Village won the Great Neighbourhoods award.
Portage and Main was featured on a stamp, is featured in the Stompin’ Tom Connors song Red River Jane and the Randy Bachman and Neil Young song Prairie Town, and is part of two popular board games – it’s the answer to a Trivial Pursuit question and is a property on the Canadian Monopoly board.
The corner was closed to pedestrians in the late 1970s after an underground concourse opened below the intersection. The move has caused controversy, with many calling for the barricades to be removed.
The intersection’s competition includes Rue-St-Catherine in Montreal and 50th Street in Lacombe, Alta.
Nominations are open until Sept. 2 and you can cast a vote for your choice at the Canadian Institute of Planners website.
You can also take a walk through the ages by looking at our photo gallery chronicling the history of the intersection.
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