Winnipeg Walkway

The Winnipeg Walkway System, also known as the Winnipeg Skywalk, is a network of pedestrian skyways and tunnels connecting a significant portion of downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The City of Winnipeg described the Walkway as a system of 14 skyways and 7 tunnels connecting 38 buildings and allowing for a maximum protected walk of 2 km. The system also provides year-round climate-controlled access to over of space, including over 200 shops and businesses, 10 office complexes, 60 restaurants and snack bars, 700 apartment units, 2 hotels, 11 financial centres, and the Winnipeg Millennium Library, bringing together 21,000 employees. The walkway system has expanded since its initial construction.

The Walkway is subdivided into four interconnected segments: its skyways chiefly cover Portage, Graham, and St. Mary Avenues; and its underground section includes Winnipeg Square and the underground Portage and Main concourse.Indoor Walkway Map_2019
" ''Tourism Winnipeg''. 2019.

It is open every day of the week, typically from 06:30 AM to 12:30 AM, though some individual building hours vary.

Network segments

Beginning in 2004, in anticipation of the openings of the MTS Centre and Millennium Library, a new unified system of signage was developed for the entire network to assist wayfinding therein. This process brought with it the branding of the system as the Winnipeg Walkway and the subdivision of the network into four interconnected segments.

Main Underground

The Main Underground portion of the network is centred underneath the historic intersection of Portage and Main. At street level, this intersection is closed to pedestrians; it is not (legally) possible to cross it without going underground.

On a much smaller scale, this segment is somewhat reminiscent of Montreal's Underground City. Via a network of tunnels, the Main Underground connects the following:
* Portage and Main Pedestrian Loop
*Trizec Complex
** Winnipeg Square
** 360 Main (formerly Commodity Exchange Tower)
**Scotiabank Building
* Royal Bank Building
*201 Portage (formerly Canwest Place, CanWest Global Place, and TD Centre)
** TDS Law
**TD Canada Trust (now at 360 Main Street)
**Concourse Sports/Ergonomic Physiotherapy
*Lombard Place
**Richardson Building
*** CIBC
** Fairmont Winnipeg Hotel
**Lombard Concourse
**161 Portage Avenue East
**Grain Exchange Building
* MTS and Bank of Montreal Building

At the southwestern corner of Winnipeg Square, near the intersection of Graham Avenue and Fort Street, there are escalator, lift and stairway connections to the second floor of 200 Graham Avenue, thereby connecting the Main Underground to the Graham Skywalk.

The 360 Main Street tower sits upon one of several structural pads atop Winnipeg Square. The complex is said to be able to accommodate the construction of an additional high-rise office tower on Graham Avenue as well as a low-rise building for use as a hotel on Main Street, following this same model. Construction of a 40-story residential tower at 300 Main Street began in Fall 2018.Downtown Winnipeg Profile
" ''City of Winnipeg''. Archived fro
the original
on 2011-09-28.

Graham Skywalk

The Graham Skywalk consists of a series of skyways connecting the buildings on the south side of Graham Avenue, between Main and Hargrave Street, as well as the Canada Life Centre (the former site of the historic Eaton's store) and the former Eaton's power station on the north side.

From east to west, this portion of the network provides access to the following:
*200 Graham Avenue
** BDO Canada Ltd.
*Cargill Building (240 Graham Ave)
**HSBC
*Canada Post Centre
* Millennium Library
* CityPlace
*Canada Life Centre
*Powerhouse Building (345 Graham Ave)
**CTV Winnipeg
**Winnipeg Jets Main Office
*True North Square.

The Canada Life Centre can be said to be a major hub in the Winnipeg Walkway network as it connects the Graham Skywalk to the Portage Skywalk.

Portage Skywalk

The Portage Skywalk segment of the Winnipeg Walkway boasts many of the shopping and entertainment attractions most often associated with downtown Winnipeg. An extensive network of skyways and second-floor pedestrian rights-of-way connects various buildings on the south side of Portage Avenue, with the three-block Portage Place shopping and entertainment complex between Carlton and Vaughan Street on the north side. Several neighbouring residential, recreational and commercial buildings, including the One Canada Centre tower between Vaughan and Colony Street, are directly connected to Portage Place. At the western edge of Portage Place there is a skyway link to The Bay department store and the Power Building on the south side of Portage Avenue. Via an open-air connection through the covered parkade of The Bay, the network reaches further south, providing access to the Saint Mary Skywalk.

More specifically, from east to west, the Portage Skywalk links the following:
*Radisson Hotel
*Somerset Place
*Canada Life Centre
*Newport Centre (330 Portage Ave)
**Bank of Montreal
**Rogers
*340-350 Portage Ave — small two-storey structure
*Carlton Building (354 Portage Ave)
**Portage Place Southside Shops
*Manitoba Hydro Place (360 Portage Ave)
*Portage Place
**Prairie Theatre Exchange
*Free Press Building
** IBM Canada
*The Promenade
*Kiwanis Chateau
*Fred Douglas Place
*YMCA/YWCA Downtown Winnipeg
* One Canada Centre (447 Portage Ave)
** Investors Group Wealth Management
*Power Building (428 Portage Ave)
**Tim Hortons
**Downtown Winnipeg BIZ
* The Bay and parkade
As was the case with the construction of Winnipeg Square, structural pads were built atop Portage Place to allow for future upward expansion. There is one atop each end, and there is currently a plan for an office and hotel tower to be built on the western pad.O'Brien, David: '$20-M tower planned for Portage Place mall', ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 7 February 2005
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Saint Mary Skywalk

The Saint Mary Skywalk is both the smallest, and the most tenuously-linked segment of the Winnipeg Walkway System. Its only connection to the network is via the parkade of The Bay department store.

Beginning from The Bay parkade eastward, the Saint Mary Skywalk connects three buildings between Vaughan and Edmonton Street:
*Winnipeg Clinic (425 Saint Mary Ave)
*444 Saint Mary Ave — office building
** Centra Gas
*400 Saint Mary Avenue
**ManpowerGroup
The western segment of the Saint Mary Skywalk ends at 400 Saint Mary Avenue; however, it continues again from the RBC Convention Centre, whose entrance faces Edmonton Street, and connects into the Graham Skywalk via Cityplace.

Convention Centre

The connection between the pre-existing Convention Centre walkway system and the Winnipeg Walkway system was completed in 2010. On the two blocks bordered by Edmonton Street, Saint Mary Avenue, York Avenue, and Hargrave Street is a residential and commercial complex consisting of the Convention Centre and the various buildings of Lakeview Square.


A network of pedestrian tunnels and skyways connects the following buildings, from east to west:
*RBC Convention Centre
* Lakeview Square
**155 Carlton Street
*** Business Development Bank of Canada
***various departments and agencies of the Government of Manitoba
***East India Company Pub & Eatery (349 York Ave entrance)
**185 Carlton Street — office building
***Shannon's Irish Pub (175 Carlton)
***Ichiban Japanese Restaurant (189 Carlton)
*Delta Hotels by Marriott Winnipeg (formerly Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza)
** Elephant and Castle Pub and Restaurant
*330 Saint Mary Avenue — office building
**HSBC
**Grimard Optical

The Convention Centre is connected by skyways to both 185 and 155 Carlton Street. The Lakeview Square development forms a 'U' around an open central courtyard which faces the Convention Centre across Carlton Street.

Other downtown pedestrian networks

In addition to the Winnipeg Walkway, is another smaller enclosed pedestrian network in downtown Winnipeg that is not currently connected to the principal Walkway network.

Civic Centre

Another series of interconnected buildings straddle Main Street, approximately 1 km north of Portage and Main. On the west side of Main Street is the Winnipeg Civic Centre and on the east side is the Manitoba Centennial Centre. This pedestrian network's tunnels link the following public buildings:
*Winnipeg Civic Centre
**City Hall
**Administration Building
*Manitoba Centennial Centre
**Centennial Concert Hall
**Manitoba Museum
***Manitoba Museum Science Gallery
***Planetarium

Unlike the Convention Centre pedestrian network, creating a pedestrian link between the Civic Centre and the principal Winnipeg Walkway System is unlikely in the foreseeable future. Not only is the distance great between the Main Underground and the Civic Centre, but any connection between the two would require sensitive tunneling underneath turn-of-the-century heritage buildings over several blocks.

References

External links

Winnipeg Square – How to Get ThereDowntown Winnipeg Indoor Walkway GuideA set of photos
taken inside the Winnipeg Walkway.
Humorous CBC Television report
from 1988 showcasing the perils of wayfinding in the Winnipeg Walkway.
* Bruce Kuwabara'
July 2005 presentation
of his firm's winning design for the new Manitoba Hydro Building.

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Buildings and structures in Winnipeg
Pedways in Canada
Transport in Winnipeg
Skyways
Underground cities
Buildings and structures in downtown Winnipeg
Downtown Winnipeg