nate007

The consulting report said that on an average commute, 50% of drivers would see no increase in commute time, and the overall average to all drivers would be 45 seconds. This is to their entire commute, not per light cycle. Not sure what you consider a 'large chunk', but the impact on traffic in general is greatly exaggerated.
Keeping it closed is directly opposed to everything we know about urban planning. The second comment in this thread speaks to exactly why you don't leave administrative decisions in the hands of the ignorant masses (most of whom will never be directly affected by the outcome): https://www.reddit.com/r/Winnipeg/comments/9f76rv/winnipeggers_really_dont_like_this_idea_of/?st=JLZTS424&sh=3eebbfee

The consulting report said that on an average commute, 50% of drivers would see no increase in commute time, and the overall average to all drivers would be 45 seconds. This is to their entire commute, not per light cycle. Not sure what you consider a 'large chunk', but the impact on traffic in general is greatly exaggerated.
Keeping it closed is directly opposed to everything we know about urban planning. The second comment in this thread speaks to exactly why you don't leave administrative decisions in the hands of the ignorant masses (most of whom will never be directly affected by the outcome): https://www.reddit.com/r/Winnipeg/comments/9f76rv/winnipeggers_really_dont_like_this_idea_of/?st=JLZTS424&sh=3eebbfee

If you know the tune to Rocket Man, sing along:
I packed my jersey away last night post-game,
Zero hour, 12 AM,
And I let out a si-iiiii-ii-igh, once again.
I miss those wins so much, I miss Coach Cal
One franchise out of place,
In such a sma-aaaaa-all league.
 
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time,
‘Till a touchdown brings me around again to find,
That the Bombers are bringing the Cup back home,
Oh no no no, I’m a hopeless fan,
Hopeless fan, and it sure seems like I’m not alone.
 
Winnipeg’s a great place to raise your kids,
But sometimes it’s cold as hell.
And there are no playoff wins there to give them hope,
And we’re all tired of being out-coached.
We just look forward to the end of the week.
We are hopeless fans, hopeless fans.
 
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time,
‘Till a touchdown brings me around again to find,
That the Bombers are bringing the Cup back home,
Oh no no no, I’m a hopeless fan,
Hopeless fan, and it sure seems like I’m not alone.

If you know the tune to Rocket Man, sing along:
I packed my jersey away last night post-game,
Zero hour, 12 AM,
And I let out a si-iiiii-ii-igh, once again.
I miss those wins so much, I miss Coach Cal
One franchise out of place,
In such a sma-aaaaa-all league.
 
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time,
‘Till a touchdown brings me around again to find,
That the Bombers are bringing the Cup back home,
Oh no no no, I’m a hopeless fan,
Hopeless fan, and it sure seems like I’m not alone.
 
Winnipeg’s a great place to raise your kids,
But sometimes it’s cold as hell.
And there are no playoff wins there to give them hope,
And we’re all tired of being out-coached.
We just look forward to the end of the week.
We are hopeless fans, hopeless fans.
 
And I think it’s gonna be a long long time,
‘Till a touchdown brings me around again to find,
That the Bombers are bringing the Cup back home,
Oh no no no, I’m a hopeless fan,
Hopeless fan, and it sure seems like I’m not alone.

Good, now if they could just get rid of The Beachcomber, The Pancake house, and The Old Spaghetti Factory (and figure out a way to get better ventilation at Fergie's). Those places all serve terrible food compared to some of the awesome places that are set up inside the market, and I feel bad for unsuspecting tourists who end up there.  
Would be nice if they could expand The Common experience to somewhere with an outdoor seating area as well.

I really like the new Pancake House on McGillvary, and the one on Pembina is pretty classic, but the handful of times I've been to the one at the Forks the food was terrible.

The insane part about this plebisite is that it is happening at all. Our mayor's main opponent was using P&M as a main part her platform and he wanted to pull the rug out from under her. In terms of infrastructure projects, it is very, very minor in cost and scale, but now the whole city gets to weigh in on it. Bowman showed zero leadership on this issue. 

They are also the people who have no problem telling other people to 'walk a few extra blocks' to avoid the intersection, because only their time is important. 

I don't think there's any way True North lets this happen. They need that food court as a catchment basin to keep the riffraff from migrating south to Cityplace and True North Square. 

I don't think there's any way True North lets this happen. They need that food court as a catchment basin to keep the riffraff from migrating south to Cityplace and True North Square. 

I don't think there's any way True North lets this happen. They need that food court as a catchment basin to keep the riffraff from migrating south to Cityplace and True North Square. 

Lotsa space in front of the Richardson building too. 
Most people are leery of change, and that's ultimately what's going on here. Neither the best or worst-case scenarios will end up happening. Traffic won't come to a screeching halt, and it's not going to be the second coming of Times Square. 
What will happen when it's opened is that people will be able to walk across the street, period. Just like they do at every other intersection this and every other city, and the world won't end.

https://twitter.com/TovChazir/status/1027023390316478464
In the comments on one of his tweets, someone asked Brent specifically about traffic turning from eastbound Portage. The report said that on an average 24 minute afternoon commute, the total additional time for people who turn right would be 2 1/2 minutes, and two minutes for people who turn left. Much lower additional times in the morning commute.

There are also options being looked at like only opening three directions to pedestrians, or even possibly adjusting pedestrian access during rush hour. 
You can see when he engages with someone and points out that the city is trying very hard not to impact traffic, it's possible to change minds.
Also, let's remember that the intersection sees relatively low traffic volumes 22 hours a day. Why keep it entirely closed to pedestrians during those hours, especially if the money is going to be spent repairing the barricades anyway?
 

You know, pedestrians cross during red lights when cars aren't going through that portion of the intersection. They aren't closing down the entire intersection to cars while pedestrians cross.
If you check his twitter feed, Bellamy had a traffic engineer explain the numbers from the consultant's report to him.
To me, it all boils down to this: we've learned a lot since the 70s about urban design and the fact that private automobiles aren't the be-all-end-all of transportation. Why would we stick with a design that's clearly been disproved? 

Same. My street is completely full an hour before kickoff, and the walk across the Fort Gary bridge and through University Heights with dozens of other fans is awesome. Based on the curve of the river, it would make more sense to put a footbridge somewhere further down St. Mary's near Henteleff Park than off River near St. Amant. The further north they put it, the more redundant it becomes.

Once upon a time there was a wonderful place called Canad Inns Stadium.  We must be careful not to speak about this time too loudly, but the memories of such a place warm us in this cold and horrible place and time we find ourselves in now.
There was parking for 33,000 vehicles within 20 steps of any entrance into the stadium.  Hundreds of invisible doves flew constantly around the stadium and would sweep down and take anyone who could not walk these 20 steps easily and they would carry them right up to their seat.  Every fan was treated with an incredible 7 course meal for the sum of $1, or pocket lint if they did not have a loonie. 
It was such an incredible experience and everyone in the land was happy.
Then a dark cloud covered the land.  An evil presence was felt by all in the great land of Winnipeg.  A booming voice was heard by all and the ground trembled.  It was the evil Asper!
The evil Asper tore down this beloved treasure, the Canad Inns Stadium.  There was much weeping.
The evil Asper banished the invisible doves to the island of Hecla where they were forced to play golf on a deserted course day and night.  There was much weeping - though they were also confused about the island of Hecla.
The evil Asper constructed a dungeon on a desolate and dark precipice of land that could only be reached by Sherpas riding mountain goats.  The evil Asper then taxed the good people of the land of Winnipeg until they were all paupers in order to pay for his new dungeon that he named IGF.  10 times per year, the evil Asper and his evil henchmen would round up thousands of the now homeless people of Winnipeg and force them using pointed sticks and hobnail boots to walk the entire 100 mile stretch without the aid of mountain goats to reach his dungeon.  While in this dungeon, the evil Asper forced the poor wretches to eat cold hotdogs and held them there until their families could find a way to scrape together the tonne of gold bricks that was needed to this sustenance.  When the weather would get cold, he would even tell them that he had no hot chocolate!  When the wailing was at its peak, they could hear the violin playing from the distant tower where the evil Asper would cackle and contemplate new indignities for his minions to endure while being held in his dungeon called the IGF.
And there was much weeping throughout the land.
Could there be a hero somewhere who could free the people of Winnipeg of their misery? 

If Edmonton is happy with their weak, childish coach, good for them. But I'd be embarrassed if it was a Bomber coach doing that.

If Edmonton is happy with their weak, childish coach, good for them. But I'd be embarrassed if it was a Bomber coach doing that.

If Edmonton is happy with their weak, childish coach, good for them. But I'd be embarrassed if it was a Bomber coach doing that.

If Edmonton is happy with their weak, childish coach, good for them. But I'd be embarrassed if it was a Bomber coach doing that.

If Edmonton is happy with their weak, childish coach, good for them. But I'd be embarrassed if it was a Bomber coach doing that.

If Edmonton is happy with their weak, childish coach, good for them. But I'd be embarrassed if it was a Bomber coach doing that.

If Edmonton is happy with their weak, childish coach, good for them. But I'd be embarrassed if it was a Bomber coach doing that.

Nope, I'm not that crazy.  All I'm saying is that we shouldn't base our infrastructure decisions on the lowest common denominator. Hardly anyone drives during a blizzard, but does that mean we shouldn't have roads? There are plenty of other windy intersections that people cross at just fine. 

Please stop using the argument that weather will sometimes stop people from using something as an excuse to not build infrastructure. People use it a lot when it comes to P&M and dedicated bike lanes. Using that logic, there should be no baseball diamonds, soccer pitches, football fields, or beaches anywhere in Manitoba.