City closes key access route to downtown right before Riverfest

Getting out of downtown La Crosse after the Fourth of July fireworks just got a little more difficult. 

Without notice, the city on Monday shut down a key access route to the downtown for a construction project on Cass St., from Seventh St. to West Ave. 

Barricades went up just two days from the start of Riverfest and a fireworks display that typically draws thousands to Riverside Park in the downtown. 

Normal post-fireworks traffic can slow to an extreme crawl out of the downtown even with all streets open. 

It’s unclear why the start of the project was planned to coincide with a downtown festival that places such high demand on current infrastructure.

The Cass Street project has been in the works for some time and includes, among other things, a new surface, adding bike lanes and putting in new street lights