La Crosse St. not on DOT’s plans for 8 years

Eventual design of the street has yet to be determined.

La Crosse St. makes drivers unhappy. But, it could be awhile before they’re happy again.  

La Crosse St. — from Losey Blvd. to West Ave. — is probably the one of those stretches that now generates the most complaints since Lang Dr. was rebuilt by the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation.

But, it’s the DOT that’s responsible for fixing La Crosse St. because it is also a state highway. That, however, won’t happen any time soon. The DOT doesn’t have repairs scheduled for another eight years — 2025. The agency, in fact, has yet to even design the project.

All, a state of affairs La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat has recently called “sad and pathetic.”

Kabat has also cast doubts on the city agreeing to any DOT design that widens the street in order to accomodate more trafffic.

“No one in the city is going to accept a five lane street there,” Kabat said.

At an average daily traffic count of 10,200 cars, La Crosse remains one of the city’s busiest streets.

Steve Flottmeyer, with the DOT in La Crosse, said the agency will work with the city on coming to an eventual design for La Crosse St.

“We’ll work together,” he insisted.

Flottmeyer said he expects the design and planning process for La Crosse St. to begin within the next year.