New parking ramp for UW-L campus approved by La Crosse city council

The La Crosse city council voted to allow the moving ahead with a new parking ramp project on the UW-La Crosse campus.

Thursday’s 11-1 vote to rezone land on 16th Street, to allow construction of a 500-car ramp, reverses a committee vote last week against the same plan.

Council member Mark Neumann, the lone no vote, wanted to send the ramp project back to committee for more study, arguing that the city should encourage alternatives to car use.

“It is a time for a revolution,” Neumann told the council. “It is a time for us to declare our intention to free ourselves of car culture.”

Neumann also referred to cars as “hurtling piles of steel.”

The request for more study was voted down.

City council member Barb Janssen said citizens have sent emails favoring the parking ramp. It was argued by others that the zoning vote had already been delayed until this month’s meeting.

Council member Erin Goggin spoke in support of a ramp, arguing that it would replace a 110-stall surface parking lot which has been used for years.

“I am well aware that the university maximizes their property usage,” Goggin said, “and it’s not their first choice to have parking, but it’s a necessary choice.”

The new ramp would replace a lot at 16th and Vine, located across the street from the university’s Center for the Arts.