Portage & Main Crosswalk: Finally Open, and It’s Working Out Just Fine
- gear4greatness
- Jul 9, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 6, 2025
Last updated: July 9, 2025
🌆 Portage & Main Crosswalk: Finally Open, and It’s Working Out Just Fine
There’s something strangely emotional about walking across a place that’s been off-limits for decades. Portage & Main has always been part of Winnipeg’s identity — not just an intersection, but a landmark of stubbornness, nostalgia, and debate. I remember hearing for years that it would never reopen to pedestrians, that the wind and traffic would make it impossible. But there I was, camera in hand, standing on that familiar concrete and waiting for the light to change. The sound of downtown was different that day — not muffled by underground corridors, but alive and layered: engines idling, wind against the glass towers, and the faint echo of footsteps finally joining the mix again. 🚶♂️
When the signal turned, stepping into that crosswalk felt like crossing into history. The air carried this mix of newness and memory — sunlight bouncing off the curved glass of the Richardson Building, reflections spilling across the pavement. I had the DJI Pocket 3 set to D-Log, ND filter on, framing a walking time-lapse as I moved through the heart of it. 🎥 It handled the shifting light beautifully — the deep shadows near the banks, the sudden glare off a passing bus, the flicker of green lights above. The footage had this natural rhythm, almost like the city itself was exhaling after being held in for too long. I paused mid-crossing, just long enough to catch the reflections of pedestrians walking behind me — and it struck me how cinematic something as simple as walking could feel when it’s been denied for so long.
There was a certain energy downtown that afternoon — not loud, not chaotic, just quietly celebratory. You could sense that people weren’t just crossing to get somewhere; they were crossing because they could. The whole scene had layers: business suits, bikes, strollers, and cameras — each person taking it in their own way. I watched a cyclist roll by with a grin like they’d just discovered a shortcut to summer. ☀️ The light was perfect, sharp but forgiving, the kind that makes you want to shoot everything in slow motion just to stretch the moment. I remember thinking how many times I’d filmed from nearby — above, around, across — but never through the intersection itself. And in that moment, it didn’t feel like just a street opening; it felt like a city finally letting its pulse breathe again.
The Pocket 3 made it easy to move unnoticed, to capture authenticity instead of spectacle. That’s the beauty of compact gear — it lets you blend in, to film without disturbing the moment. I could tilt the camera up slightly to catch the reflections against the office windows, then pan back toward the horizon where the Portage Avenue signs shimmered like old movie props in a new script. It’s funny how something so small — a crosswalk — can shift your creative perspective. 💭 When a place opens up, so do new angles, new compositions, new ways to see what you thought you already knew.
Portage & Main Crosswalk: Finally Open, and It’s Working Out Just Fine
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🌄 FINAL THOUGHTS
Crossing Portage & Main for the first time wasn’t just a walk — it was a realization. This corner that once symbolized restriction now feels like renewal. 🚦 It reminded me how cities, like people, evolve slowly until one day they surprise you by simply being different.
As a creator, I felt it instantly — that rush of curiosity, that spark that says record this before it becomes ordinary. Every frame I shot carried that blend of nostalgia and motion, of old streets meeting new stories. It’s the kind of moment that makes you fall back in love with filming the familiar. 🎬
Standing there afterward, I thought about all the years we spent talking about this corner — arguing over barriers and wind tunnels, forgetting the human part of it all. The truth is, movement always finds a way. Like creativity, it doesn’t stay contained forever. 🌬️ Every step across that intersection felt symbolic — a crossing between old habits and new possibilities, both for the city and for how we capture it.
✨ Sometimes progress isn’t loud or dramatic. Sometimes it’s just the sound of footsteps where there used to be silence.– Pete | Gear4Greatness 🌆
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