Support for paid parking pilot could hinge on plans to expand benefits to neighborhoods

Paid on-street parking in La Crosse could be a reality very soon in the new year — or maybe not at all.

Whether the parking pilot program begins depends on the city council and, likely, how concerns about targeting college students through it get addressed.

La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat believes expanding the pilot to include the area around Gundersen Health System on the south side could help, as well as creating special parking benefit districts to in areas that have are conducting the program.

The decision will depends entirely on whether the city council votes next month to ban the pilot program cooked up by city police and the parking utility.

“If we can show, maybe some more tangible benefits for the paid parking, as well as the idea that we’re looking at some other neighborhoods, hopefully that will address the main concerns,” Kabat said. “If all things go well, that will be part of the council’s’ consideration in January, as well as this notion of banning paid, on-street parking.”

As of now, the program had been planned for only the areas immediately adjacent to the University of Wisconsin-la Crosse and Western Technical College.

Administrators at both schools have criticized the pilot. The city council votes next month on whether to ban it.

The parking plan would charge commuters $1 per hour — up to four hours — to park in the neighborhoods around the college campuses.