Planners seeking community input tonight on Hwy. 53 corridor project

Meeting at 6 p.m. at Northside Elementary

The La Crosse city planning office wants to hear from the public tonight tonight on a new master plan for the Hwy. 53 corridor on the north side.

The planning session begins at 6 p.m. at Northside Elementary.

City planner Tim Acklin says community input on the future of the corridor is essential but that’s not a lot different from any other big project in the city.

“Every planning process that we do, we want people’s involvement in the plan,” he said. “Their positives, negatives, ideas, opinions, concerns, issues. We want them all.”

Acklin believes the future of the corridor shouldn’t just be left up to city hall.

“They (the community doesn’t) believe there’s going to be a lot of sense of ownership by the public, or a lot of support, if it’s just us,” Acklin said. “If you get the community involved and you’re making a plan based off the ideas and visions of the people who work and play there, you have a stronger plan.”

With that, Acklin added they’re also shooting for feasible ideas. Pie in the sky ideas are fine for the corridor but they’d prefer something that’s realistic for the future of the area.