Citizen’s group not happy with Gundersen’s parking lot plan

Health system wants to tear down city block for parking

Livable Neighborhoods is telling La Crosse city leaders and Gundersen Health System to try again.

The citizens group doesn’t like the plan by the medical center to tear down almost every house on a block near the Gundersen East Building, to provide more parking. 

The health giant also began construction on a campus hotel, which is going up on its existing parking lot.

Livable Neighborhoods president Charley Weeth said parking wasn’t part of the Gundersen proposal unveiled earlier in the year.

“The action to tear these houses down for additional parking is not consistent with the neighborhood plan, the comprehensive plan, the sustainable plan or the transportation vision,” Weeth said, meeting with reporters at the Eighth and Tyler street intersection Monday night – one of the blocks that would be affected.

Weeth worries that providing more parking would give the government another excuse to develop a new north-south road. 

“This is all connected to the road,” Weeth explained. “When you provide free parking, you encourage people to get into their cars and drive to work, and there are no alternatives to try and reduce that.”

La Crosse’s city council could vote this week on Gundersen’s plan.  Tuesday, a city council committee agreed to the demolition with just a few conditions.