Business

Diagonal parking approved on Pearl Street

Published

3 years ago

April 12, 2021

A blast from the past could be tried soon in a historic part of downtown La Crosse.

The board of public works has approved a plan to allow some diagonal parking on the north side of two blocks of Pearl Street.

Downtown business owner T.J. Peterslie has been working on the proposal for a few years, arguing that it’s easier to park cars diagonally than to use the traditional parallel parking.

“It slows down street traffic, it’s easier for drivers to park in angle parking, it’s safer for a driver to exit the vehicle,” said Peterslie. “It has this historic appearance which we really need to always keep in mind.” Peterslie points out that the diagonal style was popular on Pearl during the mid-20th century.

Phil Ostrem of the board of public works supports the idea.

“It’s a lot easier to find a parking spot, for one thing, rather than having to walk from a ramp,” said Ostrem. “It would be nice to have direct connections to these businesses.”

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.