City seeks public input on major Jackson Street DOT project

The Wisconsin DOT’s ideas about road building through La Crosse haven’t always gone over well with residents of the city.

It’s why city council member Jessica Olson hopes for good numbers at a public input session next week on the big Jackson St. — or state Hwy. 33 —W rebuild project starting in 2021.

Public input, says Olson, can help prevent the type of changes that occurred when the DOT took a boulevard carving approach to West Ave. years ago.

“I have a clear mark in my mind from before when there used to be boulevards and trees, and it did still feel residential to now, we basically have a four-lane super highway cutting through the center of our city,” Olson said.

Unlike the West Ave. project Olson added, “We’re going to maintain that green space and that buffer between the houses and the traffic.”

Olson also believes the whole project can have a significant impact on quality of life in adjoining neighborhoods.

“We’re going to reinvent this, so it serves our needs into the future and improves the neighborhood all around for the people who live next to that corridor,” she said.

The project, which will span from 3rd St. to Losey Blvd., is mostly funded by the DOT and is currently expected to include bike lanes but no roundabouts. It would also eliminate parking on the north side of the street.