Parking rules don’t cover all scenarios

It seems there is no one sized fits all plan when dealing with parking in La Crosse. The city has tried a variety of ways to keep our streets free of cars so the snowplows can get through. Many people complain about alternate side parking rules being in effect with no snow on the ground or in the forecast. So the city tried a pilot program near the University area, where people only had to move their cars when they were told. It was a failed effort, despite years of trying. Two years ago, the city trimmed the length of alternate-side parking, so the season will end on March 15. In case you haven’t looked outside lately, there is still a mountain of snow out there, and plenty of cold in the forecast, so it is likely we will still have snow on the ground when the alternate side parking season comes to an end. We went though this last year too. We got a record 19 inches of snow in April with alternate side parking rules no longer in effect. But the plows needed to come through, so the city declared a snow emergency on a couple nights, asking people to move their cars to make room for the plows. But many didn’t heed that advice. We may find ourselves in a similar position after this fifteenth of March with plows still needing to clear our streets. The city could again declare a snow emergency on nights plow work is needed, and hope that more people heed the warning. Or now that we have started booting cars, perhaps the better answer is to slap a boot on any car that doesn’t move, even after the alternate side parking season officially comes to an end.