Public presents ideas for downtown parking
EAU CLAIRE — Members of the community and business owners met with Fishbeck Consulting Parking and Mobility Planner Jon Forster to offer their perspective on the downtown area’s parking.
One big topic brought up by the public was the safety of the downtown area’s parking ramps. Some citizens expressed that they were not safe on the ramps.
“There’s a reason people don’t want to use these ramps. If they were nicer, remotely clean, or felt remotely safe, no problem,” said a citizen when talking about the parking ramp on Gibson Street.
The Gibson Street ramp is planned to be demolished in the future. According to Erin Klaus, Downtown Eau Claire, Inc. executive director and communication and promotions coordinator, there are a few things the city will need to consider before the structure is taken down.
The city cannot take the ramp down yet because it needs to maintain the amount of parking spaces in the area, said Klaus. The upkeep of those spaces is required both by the grant funding the creation of the Chippewa Valley Transit Transfer Center and a contract between the city and The Lismore.
Other concerns were brought up by citizens concerning other parking ramps including people speeding in them and people who are homeless using the spaces for shelter.
Another topic brought up was the city’s block face parking. Lois Sieve, the owner of Acoustic Cafe, mentioned a person who worked for DoorDash who no longer goes to the downtown area because they got a ticket for parking on the same block while picking up food.
“We need to come up with a solution that is going to bring people downtown for the businesses,” said Sieve, “not push them away.”
In 2023 the city presented the idea to have paid parking in the downtown area, said Klaus. The downtown Business Improvement Districts all asked to wait and get more information.
The new parking study was prompted by this desire for more information and will look specifically at downtown parking, said Klaus.
Forster said some things he took from the public event included the people’s comfort with the city’s ramps. A question he had was “How do we get people feeling good about being on the ramps?”
Another concern was what will happen when some spaces for parking, including the Gibson Ramp, are unavailable, said Forster. He hopes to address that idea in the study as well.
The six month study will look into the needs of parking in the downtown area and will be used to advise the city.
Forster said as a part of this study he has been meeting with Business Improvement Districts, owners of businesses, city staff, and the public.
Having problems with parking shows that people are putting a lot into the downtown area and that it is being successful, said Forster. He will work to make sure to help parking so the downtown area can continue to develop.
“There’s a lot of pride in downtown,” said Forster. “There’s a lot of people who love being downtown, both business owners, employees, and patrons. I think you’ve got a great downtown that people love.”
