La Crosse asst. police chief touts Losey enforcement

Council criticized police for lack of enforcement there, Abraham sees otherwise.

There’s probably more police enforcement on a very busy La Crosse street than one might think.

Way more than even La Crosse assistant police chief Rob Abraham expected to see, after reviewing data in the wake of criticism that police weren’t enforcing speeds on Losey Blvd.

“In my opinion, the officers are enforcing the roadways that need to be enforced – that being West Avenue and that being Losey,” he said.

Abraham heard plenty of criticism about the very busy street while the city council has considered traffic control there.

“Looking at the statistics for the last three years of traffic citations that we’ve issued, 10 percent of all speeding-related violations come off of Losey,” Abraham said.

The enforcement criticism – largely from city council members – has come while the council considers lowering the speed limit on Losey from 30 to 25 miles per hour.  

Other considerations to fix Losey includes roundabouts and narrowing the lanes. 

“When you have huge, wide roadways – big nice lanes – that has a tendency to speed things up,” Abraham said.

Abraham stopped short of recommending a narrowing of Losey but does believe that would naturally slow traffic on the street, as an alternative to lowing the speed limit.