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Winnipeg Free Press
27-06-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
People, profit intersect at Portage and Main
Opinion Since 1862, the intersection of Main Street and Portage Avenue in Winnipeg has been a space split between the competing forces of people and profit. During the early years, there were fights about how to build roads large enough so people could travel through the area while accommodating the competitive interests of businesses moving in and blocking the thoroughfares. In the end, the then-governor and council of Assiniboia chose a balance between the two, declaring the intersecting roads would follow the original oxcart paths, parallel to the rivers, and be 'a full two chain (132 foot)' across. The decree also stated that any business blocking the paths in and out of the intersection would have to make way by 1882. This idea though, was not new; a balance between multiple interests has always been how Portage and Main works. For centuries, the area was a stopping place along a north-south trading route traveled by Cree and Anishinaabe peoples and a west-east route journeyed by Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota peoples — all of whom joined together to reside in a vast city the Cree called Nestawaya, or 'Three Points.' MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Portage Avenue and Main Street has witnessed bustling crowds, paths of streetcars and exponential economic growth — all of which inspired infrastructure and jobs that helped build a city. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Portage Avenue and Main Street has witnessed bustling crowds, paths of streetcars and exponential economic growth — all of which inspired infrastructure and jobs that helped build a city. Here, Indigenous peoples lived, traded, and forged treaty — conducting business with one another for centuries. Life in Nestawaya wasn't perfect (Anishinaabe and Dakota peoples were well known for their wars, for example) but, at the best of times, the nations in what is now Portage and Main found ways to forge peace. It's no surprise, then, that balancing competing interests solved Portage and Main's first conflict. Over a century, compromise, commitment, and inclusivity has been how Portage and Main has functioned the best. The corner has witnessed bustling crowds, paths of streetcars and exponential economic growth — all of which inspired infrastructure and jobs that helped build a city. In the decades after Winnipeg was founded in 1873, the area saw the building of nearby Union Station in 1911, Eaton's department store in 1905, and the Hudson Bay building in 1926. At Portage and Main, there came the Bank of Montreal building on the southeast corner (built in 1913), the 34-storey Richardson building on the northeast corner (1969), the Commodity Exchange Tower on the northwest corner (1979) and the five-storey Scotiabank building on the southwest corner (1979). KEN GIGLIOTTI / FREE PRESS FILES The Bank of Montreal building on the southeast corner of Portage and Main was built in 1913. KEN GIGLIOTTI / FREE PRESS FILES The Bank of Montreal building on the southeast corner of Portage and Main was built in 1913. At the same time, the area was the meeting place where citizens celebrated the end of wars, met kings and princesses, and the Winnipeg Jets signed superstar hockey players. Finding the balance between people and profit was always the way of Portage and Main — until one side was chosen over the other. Starting in the 1960s, city planners sought to create a downtown economic hub, based on the idea that forcing foot traffic to travel underground into a warm, enclosed, commercial concourse would increase vehicle flow and support economic development. That idea became real with the Circus, an underground circular facility that connected all four corners of Portage and Main. After the vision was passed in 1979, all overground movement in the intersection was closed, with barriers built to force citizens below. Well, some of them. There was no longer any place for the poor or racialized at Portage and Main. Profit became the only language of the primary intersection of the city. For decades, downtown became a transactional place. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. For the wealthy, it was a place for business, not a place to live, love, and foster relationships. Those who did live there were met with a lifeless set of barriers, concrete, and freezing cold wind. This was especially true of Portage and Main's first inhabitants. In the 1960s, Indigenous peoples began to return to the space after suffering for decades under brutal policies that controlled movement and commerce — instilling poverty and marginalization in their lives. Unwelcome in the Circus, Indigenous peoples became the primary inhabitants of the overground, creating a stark divide between societies below and above. This separation caused division and a deep sense of difference and denial — until the decay caused by both became too much. Portage and Main became a symbol of what it means to choose one interest over another, money over relationships, and profit over people. That is, until this unsustainable vision ended. Now, the intersection has reopened, and, with it, new questions on how to balance people and profit. A new path for an intersection in a very old centre; a place that has thrived by finding balance, not choosing one path over another. Niigaan SinclairColumnist Niigaan Sinclair is Anishinaabe and is a columnist at the Winnipeg Free Press. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Winnipeg Free Press
City to remove parking pay stations, cash no longer an option
Drivers will no longer be able to use cash to immediately pay for parking along streets and in city-operated lots after this summer. The City of Winnipeg said Wednesday it will remove its parking pay stations between July 2 and Aug. 31. Drivers will have to use their phone to pay, either through an app or by calling 1-888-680-7275, or a computer. The PayByPhone service accepts debit and credit card payments. The only remaining option to pay with cash will be buying prepaid parking booklets. Drivers can also use debit or credit cards to purchase the booklets at the Parking Store at 495 Portage Ave. They will also be sold at 311 counters at 510 Main St. and 170 Goulet St. starting July 2. KEN GIGLIOTTI / FREE PRESS FILES The city will remove its parking pay stations between July 2 and Aug. 31. Pay stations in private lots are not affected by the change, and pay stations in the Millennium Library parkade will remain. The city said in a news release that mobile service providers are phasing out 3G networks across Canada, which will make the pay stations inoperable. 'The pay stations have also reached the end of their useful life, use outdated technology, and attract theft and vandalism. The cost to replace the pay stations is $3.6 million,' the release said. The city will save about $1 million in annual operating costs by not replacing the stations. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. 'This is about meeting people where they are,' Mayor Scott Gillingham said in another news release. 'Most drivers are already using their phones to pay for parking. We're building on that shift and making smart financial decisions that reflect how people interact with city services today. The millions we'll save can be redirected to other city priorities.' More than 80 per cent of all paid parking transactions are made through PayByPhone, the release said, and another 10 per cent are made by credit card. More signs about PayByPhone will be installed as the pay stations are removed, the city said. fpcity@
