Portage and Main is an intersection in Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located in the heart of downtown Winnipeg

Downtown Winnipeg

Downtown Winnipeg is centred around Portage Avenue and Main Street, and is bounded by the Assiniboine River on the south, Colony and Balmoral Streets on the west, Notre Dame Avenue, Princess Street, and Logan Avenue on the north, and the Red River on the east. It includes the Exchange District,...

 at the place where Portage Avenue (Route 85) and Main Street

Winnipeg Route 52

Route 52 is a major north-south arterial route in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It comprises all of Main Street from the northern city limits to the Main Street Bridge over the Assiniboine River; Queen Elizabeth Way from the Main Street Bridge to the Norwood Bridge over the Red River; and St. Mary's Road...

 (Route 52) intersect. Together these two streets create the most iconic and famous street corner in Canada.

Portage and Main is the hub of some of Winnipeg's main transportation routes. It was once the centre for the banking industry in Western Canada

Western Canada

Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...

 (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 famous Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. More recently, it has served as an anchor point for occasional street festivals and the winter lighting of holiday street decorations.

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. This included a 50-year deal to permanently close the pedestrian crossings at the intersection, which street works were completed around 1978. The concourse and walkways are connected through the Winnipeg Skywalk. The Portage and Main Circus houses a concrete sculptural wall created by Bruce Head.

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

Urban heat island

An urban heat island is a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas. The phenomenon was first investigated and described by Luke Howard in the 1810s, although he was not the one to name the phenomenon. The temperature difference usually is larger at night...

 effect. The lowest reading at the airport was −45.0°C on 18 February 1966.

There are numerous cultural references to the intersection, including the 1992 Randy Bachman

Randy Bachman

Randolph Charles "Randy" Bachman, OC, OM is a Canadian musician best known as lead guitarist, songwriter and a founding member for both the 1960s–70s rock band The Guess Who, and the 1970s rock band Bachman–Turner Overdrive...

 and Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

 hit song “Prairie Town”, with the chorus repeating the line “Portage and Main, 50 below”. The British band Blurt

Blurt

Blurt is a British musical group founded by the poet, saxophonist and puppeteer Ted Milton in 1979 in Stroud, Gloucestershire; with Milton's brother Jake Milton, formerly of psychedelic group Quintessence, on drums and Peter Creese on guitar...

 have a song named “Portage & Main” on their album Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hit. It is also the setting for the Stompin' Tom Connors

Stompin' Tom Connors

Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC is one of Canada's most prolific and well-known country and folk singers.He lives in Wellington County, Ontario.- Early life :...

 song "Red River Jane". The intersection is also featured as a property on the Canadian Monopoly

Canadian Monopoly

Canadian Monopoly is an edition of the popular board game Monopoly. It features Canadian properties, railways and utilities in place of those from the original game....

board.