Gates could go back up in parking ramps, city still studying alternatives

Ramp revenue with gates was $10,000 a month

The city is still studying solutions for its parking ramp dilemma. 

For three months La Crosse’s parking ramps have been without the ticket gates.

That could change sooner, rather than later.

In late February, the city took the gates down after the arms failed to work or were damaged repeatedly – either by cars driving through or vandals walking by. Revenue for the three ramps with gate arms intact was around $10,000 per month.

During the past three months, the city has been looking at a better way to charge for parking in the ramps. For two of those months, parking was free. Right now, there’s a three-hour limit before a vehicle could be ticketed.

Now, the solution appears to be to just put the gates back up. The self-imposed deadline for that was Aug. 1, but it looks like that could happen sooner, according to new parking utility coordinator Jim Flottmeyer.

Beyond that, there appears to be no new ideas set in stone. On May 4, the city listened to a presentation about using a system that tracks license plates.

Flottmeyer expects to see a few more ideas for improving the ramps before the parking board approves a solution. 

“If everything went perfect, it would take a minimum of six months to get it up and running,” Flottmeyer said of incorporating a new system. “But I think we’ll interface new and old as we go through that timeline.”