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Winnipeg Route 85
Portage Avenue
Route 85 highlighted in red
Corner of Portage and Main as seen from eastbound Route 85
Route information
Maintained by City of Winnipeg
Length	14.0 km[1] (8.7 mi)
Existed	1966–present
Known for	Junction of Portage and Main
Component highways	PTH 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) Yellowhead Highway
Major junctions
East end	Route 52 (Main St) / Route 57
	Route 96 south (Moray St) Route 90 (Century St) Route 70 north (Maryland St) Route 70 south (Sherbrook St) PTH 1 east (Broadway) Route 62 (Colony St / Memorial Blvd) Route 42 south (Donald St) Route 42 north (Smith St) Route 57 west (Notre Dame St)
West end	PTH 100 (TCH) south / PTH 101 north (Perimeter Hwy) / PTH 1 (TCH) west
Highway system
Manitoba provincial highways Winnipeg City Routes ← Route 80 Route 90 →

Route 85, also known as Portage Avenue, is a major arterial route in the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is one of the city's oldest and most important roads and is part of both the Trans-Canada and Yellowhead Highways.

Route description

Looking west down Portage Avenue, one of Winnipeg's busiest streets.

Route 85 begins in the heart of downtown Winnipeg, at the corner of Portage and Main (Route 52), and runs southwest through the downtown to Broadway. From Broadway to the west Perimeter Highway (PTH 100/101), it runs concurrently with the Trans-Canada Highway (PTH 1). Route 85 ends at the Perimeter Highway interchange, however, Portage Avenue and PTH 1 continue to the official city limit and into Headingley. Portage Avenue is also the first leg of the Yellowhead Highway from Winnipeg to Edmonton, which branches off PTH 1 on to PTH 16 near Portage la Prairie.

Route 85 is a six-lane road for its entire length and passes by major destinations such as Winnipeg Square, Bell MTS Place, Portage Place, Polo Park Shopping Centre, and the University of Winnipeg. It is also the main link (via Route 90) between the city's downtown and airport.^[2]

Portage Avenue East, which extends approximately 200 meters southeast from the Portage and Main intersection to Westbrook Street near Shaw Park, is not part of Route 85 or the Yellowhead Highway.

History

The origin of the route stems from its use as a part of an old Red River ox cart trail.^[3][4]

The (red river) carts left deep ruts in the soft prairie turf, so deep that the wagons tended to spread out, the right wheel of one cart travelling in the wake of the left wheel of the cart ahead; thus, the prairie trails could be as much as twenty carts wide, a phenomenon that helps explain the many broad streets in Winnipeg. Portage Avenue is the widest thoroughfare in Canada and was known as Queen Street during the period from 1891 to 1893 as part of a failed scheme to introduce a numbering scheme to Winnipeg's streets. It is actually part of the old trail that led west to Portage la Prairie and then on to Edmonton.

— Pierre Berton, The National Dream

Major intersections

Major intersections for Route 85 starting from Westbrook Street and heading west to the Perimeter Highway.

Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Downtown	−0.2	−0.12	Westbrook Street (Route 57 east) – Shaw Park, The Forks	East end of Portage Avenue
	0.0	0.0	Main Street (Route 52)	See Portage and Main Route 85 / Yellowhead Highway eastern terminus; east end of Route 57 concurrency
	0.1	0.062	Notre Dame Avenue (Route 57 west) / Fort Street	West end of Route 57 westbound concurrency; one-way northbound (westbound)
	0.2	0.12	Garry Street	One-way southbound
	0.3	0.19	Smith Street (Route 42 north) – Burton Cummings Theatre	One-way northbound
	0.4	0.25	Donald Street (Route 42 south) – Bell MTS Place, Cityplace	One-way southbound
	0.5	0.31	Hargave Street	One-way northbound
	0.6	0.37	Carlton Street (Route 57 south) – Convention Centre	West end of Route 57 eastbound concurrency; one-way southbound (eastbound)
	0.7	0.43	Edmonton Street	One-way, northbound (no access, T-intersection)
	0.8	0.50	Kennedy Street	One-way southbound
	0.9	0.56	Vaughan Street – Portage Place	One-way northbound
	1.0	0.62	Colony Street / Memorial Boulevard (Route 62) – Manitoba Legislative Building, Winnipeg Art Gallery
West End	1.2	0.75	Balmoral Street – University of Winnipeg
	1.75	1.09	Sherbrook Street (Route 70 south)	One-way southbound
	1.8	1.1	Maryland Street (Route 70 north)	One-way northbound
	2.0	1.2	Broadway (PTH 1 (TCH) east)	East end of PTH 1 concurrency; no left turn (westbound)
	2.3	1.4	Arlington Street – Vimy Ridge Memorial Park
	3.0	1.9	Dominion Street – RCMP Division 'D' headquarters
	3.5	2.2	Wall Street	One-way northbound
	3.7	2.3	Erin Street	One-way southbound
	4.0	2.5	Valour Road
	4.5	2.8	Empress Street – Polo Park	Grade separated
	4.9	3.0	St. James Street – Polo Park	No left turn (both directions)
St. James-Assiniboia	5.0	3.1	Route 90 (Kenaston Boulevard / Century Street) – Airport	Interchange
	9.3	5.8	Moray Street (Route 96 south)
	10.7	6.6	Sturgeon Road – Grace Hospital
	11.6	7.2	Westwood Street
	13.3	8.3	Buchanan Boulevard
	13.7– 14.2	8.5– 8.8	Perimeter Highway (PTH 100 east / PTH 101 north) – Kenora PTH 1 (TCH) west (Portage Avenue) – Portage la Prairie, Brandon	Interchange; signed as exits 318A (east) and 318B (north); Route 85 western terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

See also

• Portage and Main

References

Route map:

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