King George VI and Queen Elizabeth are greeted by crowds at Portage and Main, 1939 (view looking north)
The land upon which Portage and Main sits was originally purchased by Henry McKenney on 2 June 1862. He chose land where the north-south and east-west ox cart paths crossed, in order to build a general store with his half-brother John Christian Schultz.[4][5]
Portage and Main is now the hub of some of Winnipeg's main transportation routes. It was once the centre for the banking industry in Western Canada. The national banks have branches accessible from beneath Portage and Main. It has served as a temporary city square and meeting place for parades and events, including the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919.[citation needed]
In 1974, the intersection was featured on an 8-cent stamp.[4]
Concrete relief by Bruce Head, taken from underground concourse, facing north.
In 1976, the City of Winnipeg signed an agreement with private developers to open an underground concourse linking shopping malls under the four corner properties.[6] This included a 40-year deal to permanently close the pedestrian crossings at the intersection, which street works were completed around 1978.[7] The concourse and walkways are currently connected through the Winnipeg Skywalk.[8] The Portage and Main Circus houses a concrete sculptural wall created by Bruce Head.[9]
On 13 August 1981, Portage and Main was the place where Dale Hawerchuk signed his contract with the Winnipeg Jets and later was the location of the "Save the Jets" rallies in 1995 and 1996.[10]
In 2016, with the deal to close the intersection set to expire, city officials were contemplating re-opening of the intersection to pedestrians.[11] However, in a non-binding plebiscite in 2018, 65% of voters voted in favour of keeping the intersection closed to pedestrians, with many concerned about traffic congestion. The mayor agreed to accept the results of that plebiscite.[12]
In March 2024, the city council voted to eliminate the barricades and reopen the intersection to pedestrians. Works has commenced (Nov 2024)
More recently, Portage and Main has served as an anchor point for occasional street festivals and the winter lighting of holiday street decorations.[citation needed]
Portage and Main is the brunt of popular jokes referring to it as the coldest and windiest intersection in Canada. The phrase Portage and Main has come to refer to the city of Winnipeg as a whole. The long-standing cold weather legend is unproven, because there are no official temperature measurements at any street corner in Canada to confirm the coldest intersection. Winnipeg's city centre is usually 3–4 °C warmer than the airport, owing to the urban heat island effect.
Buildings
Portage and Main is the site several significant buildings:
Portage and Main as seen from Portage Ave Eastbound
There are numerous cultural references to the intersection, including the 1992 Randy Bachman and Neil Young song "Prairie Town", with the chorus repeating the line "Portage and Main, 50 below."[13] The British band Blurt have a song named "Portage & Main" on their album Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hit. It is also the setting for the Stompin' Tom Connors song "Red River Jane".[4] In his song "Free in the Harbour," Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers referenced Portage and Main as a stop for fishermen from Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland on their way to find oil field work in "the hills of Alberta."
^"The city agrees that it will not consent to any application for the construction of a pedestrian crossing over or under any street, avenue or other roadway within that portion of the city [within a block of Portage and Main] unless the applicant for such a crossing provides a direct connection between the proposed crossing and the Concourse." Agreement quoted in Consideration of the Report of the Committee on Works and OperationsArchived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine, December 16, 1976, p 290.
