Parking woes continue in downtown La Crosse

City made $13,000 in February on ramps

Free parking is everywhere in downtown La Crosse right now, and it’s a problem for the business community.  

Downtown Mainstreet director Robin Moses told the city parking board – and new parking coordinator Jim Flottmeyer – Wednesday afternoon that people who work in the central city are taking up free spaces in lower levels of the ramps that should be left open for business customers.  

“If you go into the ramps in the early morning, most of those spaces are taken,” she said. “Whether they’re being taken by people who have other spaces within the ramp or whether they’re being taken by employees downtown. The result is that customers looking for spaces are having a harder time finding them.”

The city, which collected $13,000 from the ramps in February, still plans to keep the ticket gates in the ramps shut down until May. 

The parking board is still working on ways to prevent vandalism to the ticket gates, along with other areas of the ramps.