Neighborhood Association Talks Parking - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

La Crosse, Wisconsin (WXOW) - A La Crosse neighborhood group is concerned about the impact of major projects at UWL.

The Grandview Emerson Neighborhood Association (GENA) discussed the impact of a new 600 stall parking ramp between 16th and 17th streets scheduled to begin this year. The second change to UWL is a new student center. Construction on the new building would start in 2014 and finish in 2016. Once the new building is finished the Cartwright Center would be razed and East Avenue would connect Pine and State streets. The neighborhood association believes this will create traffic problems and worsen the parking problems in the surrounding neighborhoods.

GENA organizer Charley Weeth tells WXOW, "We want to see a successful, vibrant university, but at the same time, what they do on campus has a dramatic effect on the neighborhood.  So we want to have some say in how these changes are going to effect the neighborhood."

The group discussed petitioning the city for a neighborhood impact policy. The policy would allow only residents to park around their houses in the neighborhoods surrounding the university.