{{Short description|City route in Winnipeg, Canada}} {{Infobox road | province = MB | type = Winnipeg | route = 85 | alternate_name = Portage Avenue | maint = City of Winnipeg | known_for = Intersection at Portage and Main | image = Portage Ave, Winnipeg (501257) (14850632526).jpg | image_notes = Westward on Portage Avenue | map = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|frame-height=290|frame-lat=49.87|frame-long=-97.15|zoom=10|type=line|stroke-width=3|id=Q8025807}} | map_custom = yes | map_notes = Route 85 highlighted in red | length_km = 14.0 | length_round = | length_ref = <ref name="length">{{google maps |title=Route 85 in Winnipeg |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@49.8753937,-97.2506146,13z |access-date=July 28, 2017}}</ref> | established = 1966 | allocation = Yellowhead Highway<br> {{jct|state=MB|PTH|1|name1=Trans-Canada Highway}} | direction_a = East | terminus_a = {{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|52|Winnipeg|57|name1=Main St}} | junction = {{plainlist| * {{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|96|dir1=south|name1=Moray St}} * {{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|90|name1=Century St}} * {{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|70|dir1=north|name1=Maryland St}} * {{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|70|dir1=south|name1=Sherbrook St}} * {{jct|state=MB|PTH|1|dir1=east|name1=Broadway}} * {{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|62|name1=Colony St / Memorial Blvd}} * {{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|42|dir1=south|name1=Donald St}} * {{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|42|dir1=north|name1=Smith St}} * {{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|57|name1=Notre Dame St|dir1=west}}}} | direction_b = West | terminus_b = {{jct|state=MB|TCH|100|PTH|101|name2=Perimeter Hwy|dir1=south|dir2=north}} /<br />{{jct|state=MB|TCH|1|dir1=west}} | previous_type = Winnipeg | previous_route = 80 | next_type = Winnipeg | next_route = 90 }}
'''Route 85''', also known as '''Portage Avenue''', is a major arterial route in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is one of the city's oldest and most important roads and is part of both the Trans-Canada and Yellowhead Highways.<ref name=CurtisWalker> {{Cite web|url=http://curtiswalker.com/roads/MB/Route/85/|title=Winnipeg Metro Route 85|author=Curtis Walker's Road Photos|access-date=December 17, 2024}} </ref>
==Route description== left|thumb|Looking west down Portage Avenue at night. 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.
A six-lane road in the downtown, it expands to eight-lanes west of the downtown. Route 85 passes by major destinations such as Winnipeg Square, Canada Life Centre, 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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Vanderhart|first=Tessa|title=Best intersection in Canada? Portage and Main nominated as one of Canada's Greatest Places|url=http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/08/13/best-intersection-in-canada--portage-and-main-nominated-as-one-of-canadas-greatest-places|access-date=October 26, 2014|newspaper=Winnipeg Sun}}</ref>
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. thumb|Eastward on Portage Avenue toward Portage and Main
==History== The origin of the route stems from its use as a part of an old Red River ox cart trail.<ref>{{cite web|title=Things you might not know about Portage and Main|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/things-you-might-not-know-about-portage-and-main-1.1262369|publisher=CBC News|access-date=October 26, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Man Who Created the Corner of Portage and Main|url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/portageandmain.shtml|publisher=Manitoba Historical Society|access-date=October 26, 2014|author=George F. Reynolds|date=October 26, 2014}}</ref> {{Quote|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''}}
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==Major intersections== Major intersections for Route 85 starting from Westbrook Street and heading west to the Perimeter Highway. {{Jcttop|nocty=yes|unit=km|length_ref=<ref name="length"/>|state=MB|indep_city=Winnipeg}} {{Jctint |type=closed |km=-0.2 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|57|dir1=east|name1=Westbrook Street}} |notes=East end of Portage Avenue }} {{Jctint |type=concur |km=0.0 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|52|YH|name1=Main Street|dir2=begins}} |notes=''See Portage and Main''<br />Route 85 / Yellowhead Highway eastern terminus; east end of Route 57 concurrency }} {{Jctint |type=concur |km=0.1 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|57|dir1=west|name1=Notre Dame Avenue|road|Fort Street}} |notes=West end of Route 57 westbound concurrency; one-way northbound (westbound) }} {{Jctint |type= |km=0.2 |road=Garry Street |notes=One-way southbound }} {{Jctint |type= |km=0.3 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|42|dir1=north|name1=Smith Street}} |notes=One-way northbound }} {{Jctint |type= |km=0.4 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|42|dir1=south|name1=Donald Street}} |notes=One-way southbound }} {{Jctint |type= |km=0.5 |road=Hargrave Street |notes=One-way northbound }} {{Jctint |type=concur |km=0.6 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|57|dir1=south|name1=Carlton Street}} |notes=West end of Route 57 eastbound concurrency; one-way southbound (eastbound) }} {{Jctint |type=incomplete |km=0.7 |road=Edmonton Street |notes=One-way, northbound (no access, T-intersection) }} {{Jctint |type= |km=0.8 |road=Kennedy Street |notes=One-way southbound }} {{Jctint |type= |km=0.9 |road=Vaughan Street |notes=One-way northbound }} {{Jctint |type= |km=1.0 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|62|name1=Colony Street / Memorial Boulevard}} |notes= }} {{Jctint |type= |km=1.2 |road=Balmoral Street |notes=Passes the University of Winnipeg }} {{Jctint |type= |km=1.75 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|70|dir1=south|name1=Sherbrook Street}} |notes=One-way southbound }} {{Jctint |type= |km=1.8 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|70|dir1=north|name1=Maryland Street}} |notes=One-way northbound }} {{Jctint |type=concur |km=2.0 |road={{jctname|state=MB|TCH|1|dir1=east|name1=Broadway}} |notes=East end of PTH 1 concurrency; no left turn (westbound) }} {{Jctint |type= |km=2.3 |road=Arlington Street |notes= }} {{Jctint |type= |km=3.0 |road=Dominion Street |notes= }} {{Jctint |type= |km=3.5 |road=Wall Street |notes=One-way northbound }} {{Jctint |type= |km=3.7 |road=Erin Street |notes=One-way southbound }} {{Jctint |type= |km=4.0 |road=Valour Road |notes= }} {{Jctint |type= |km=4.5 |road=Empress Street |notes=Grade separated; passes Polo Park }} {{Jctint |type=incomplete |km=4.9 |road=St. James Street |notes=No left turn (both directions) }} {{Jctint |type= |km=5.0 |road={{jct|state=MB|Winnipeg|90|extra=airport|name1=Century Street|location1=Airport}} |notes=Interchange }} {{Jctint |type= |km=9.3 |road={{jctname|state=MB|Winnipeg|96|dir1=south|name1=Moray Street}} |notes= }} {{Jctint |type= |km=10.7 |road={{jct|state=MB|extra=hospital}} Sturgeon Road |notes=Access to Grace Hospital }} {{Jctint |type= |km=11.6 |road=Westwood Drive |notes= }} {{Jctint |type= |km=13.3 |road=Buchanan Boulevard |notes= }} {{Jctint |type=concur |km=13.7 |km2=14.2 |road={{jct|state=MB|Both|100|name1=PTH 100 east / PTH 101 north|location1=Kenora}}<hr/>{{jct|state=MB|TCH|1|YH|dir1=west|name1=Portage Avenue|city1=Portage la Prairie|city2=Brandon}} |notes=Interchange; signed as exits 318A (east) and 318B (north); Route 85 western terminus; PTH 1 continues west }} {{Jctbtm|keys=concur,closed,incomplete}}
==See also== *Portage and Main
==References== {{Attached KML|display=title,inline}} {{Reflist}}
{{WPGCityRoute}} {{Authority control}}
085 Category:Downtown Winnipeg Category:St. James, Winnipeg Winnipeg Route 085 Category:West End, Winnipeg Category:Yellowhead Highway