But first, please thank these elected officials who signed up to do the official National Week Without Driving experience last month: Council Member Chris Kahlow, County Board Supervisor Dillon Mader, and County Board Supervisor Peg Isola, We hope more will participate next year.
Many people attended the October 22 MTU Route Update Info Session at the Southside Neighhborhood center. Next year, the MTU plans to do a system-wide analysis of services, but this meeting was focused on three specific route updates which stem from public requests and a potential $400,000 cut in city funding as reported by the La Crosse Tribune. There were issues with lack of accessible and understandable information before the meeting, but Tim Koterwski and Adam Lorentz went through and answered questions about each.
Circulator changes – Two options were discussed
- Option 1: End the C2 circulator and keep the C1. Lose direct access to Gundersent East and Founders buildings. Service ends at 5:10 p.m. as it does now.
- Option 2: Retain both circulators but service will be hourly with half-hour offset. Service ends at 5:10 p.m. on both lines.
Route 2 changes – Use a private road between the Hillview campus and Pammel Creek Road, then use the private “horseshoe drive” that loops around the fountain in front of the former Trane company building to add a stop in front of that building which is now owned by the La Crosse School District where administrative offices will be housed. Resume current route at the Ward/33rd/Pammel Creek intersection. The school district says it will install and maintain a path from this new administrative building to State Road School (now Pammel Creek School) but no school district representative was at the MTU meeting.
Route 8 changes – Use the whole of River Valley Drive and not Gillette. River Valley drive connects with George Street at St. Cloud which allows for bus stops closer to Schuh Homes than the existing #5 stops near the George and Hagar Street intersection. The section removed from #8 is already served by the #5 and #6.
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| ROUTE 8 |
See below for more details. To feed back, email mtu@cityoflacrosse.org OR use the “Customer Feedback” form at the MTU website: https://www.cityoflacrosse.org/Your-Government/Departments/Municipal-Transit-MTU/Customer-Feedback
We also learned at this meeting that the MTU is monitoring how many riders use stops in advance of possible changes in future years. If you value your bus stop, use it as much as possible during this study time.
The city is working to finalize its 2027 operating budget now. As noted above, according to the La Crosse Tribune, there is currently a $400,000 budget cut proposed for the MTU. We urge you to contact all city council representatives to oppose this cut. Public transit is an essential public service which thousands of city and area residents rely upon as their primary means of transportation. In addition, one of the top action steps in the City's Climate Action Plan is increasing ridership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Email council representatives using this form https://cityforms.cityoflacrosse.org/Forms/ContactCityCouncil or find out how to contact individual council members at https://www.cityoflacrosse.org/Your-Government/Elected-Officials/City-Council. In addition, the public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 6 p.m. November 16 and 17 (if needed) at the council chambers in City Hall. Especially if the bus is your main ride, please plan to attend and speak at this event if you can. Arrive by about 5:50 p.m. in order to sign up to speak.
The MTU Board will meet on Tuesday, November 10 at 4 p.m. in the Miller Room of City Hall and online. Find the agenda here when it is available: https://tinyurl.com/MTUBoard.
The MTU's ADA Advisory Committee's November 10 meeting has been postponed. We will post the new meeting time at our website when it is finalized.
The La Crosse Area Planning Committee's advisory Committee on Transit and Active Transportation will be on Thursday, November 12 at 3:30 p.m. in person and online. Details are not up yet, but you can find them at https://www.lacrossecounty.org/metropolitan-planning-organization/committees/committee-on-transit-and-active-transportation The meeting is open to the public.
Gaby Dickey is the LAPC's new LAPC mobility manager, serving through the Marshfield Clinic AmeriCorps Community Corps. Her job is to help people find their way around our region using public transportation. Gaby. a UWL student, worked on a commuter survey last year and wrote about it during Week Without Driving in the La Crosse Tribune. She has recently completed a zine about how to ride the MTU and has other projects in the pipeline. Check out the new Mobility Management page at https://lacrossecounty.org/metropolitan-planning-organization/LAPC-Home/mobility-management! Gaby will write some posts for this blog about her research and mobility management.
The Wisconsin Association of Rail Passengers (WisARP) will hold its annual fall meeting in Oshkosh on Saturday, November 14. You may attend in person or online. More details, including registration information, is here: https://wisarp.wordpress.com/category/events/
You are invited to a special event honoring local transportation professionals on Tuesday, November 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Nature Place at Myrick Park (ironically, not accessible by bus!) Free pizza and beverages, too! Please RSVP here by November 16: https://tinyurl.com/crsc-chawardsparty
La Crosse Area Planning Committee staff, Bob Gollnick, Erin Duffer, and Travis Key; MTU Director Adam Lorentz; and City of La Crosse Associate Planner Jenna Dinkel will receive the Wisconsin Sierra Club's Torchbearer Award during its annual Chapter Awards program for their work on promoting and improving transit and active transportation in our region. The Torchbearer Award is given to organizations and individuals external to the club, such as decision-makers that consistently promote legislation, regulations, or practices that protect the environment.
LATA leaders will likely not meeting in November, but if you would like to be added to the group's email list, please reply to this email. The group discusses and plans events, programs, and activities and other ways to educate, support, and advocate for public transit.
With a new legislature coming, proponents of Regional Transit Authorities are hopeful that enabling legislation will be a reality in 2027! The Coalition for More Responsible Transportation and Wisconsin Sierra Club are working around the state with allies, operators, electeds, and legislators to ensure that new legislation will be widely supported. High speed rail supporters are also hopeful that the plan nixed by Governor School Walker in 2010 can be brought back to life.
Transit Equity Day is coming up on February 4, Rosa Parks' birthday. This day recognizes that public transportation is an essential civil right that allows everyone, regardless of income, ability, and age, to get to their lives cleaner, greener, and safer. If you would like to help plan local events, please reply to this email.
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More details about proposed MTU route changes
Route 2:
Northbound. After passing Hillview, the bus continues north to Pammel Creek Road on a private road adjacent to a parking lot. At Pammel Creek Road, the bus turns right and then right again onto the “horseshoe drive” that loops around the fountain and passes by the front of the building. A new stop will be placed at the front of the building. The bus will continue to loop around back to Pammel Creek Road where it will turn left and continue to Ward Avenue and then resume its current route onto 32nd Street.
Southbound. After turning onto Ward Avenue, the bus will turn left onto Pammel Creek Road. It will turn right into the “horseshoe drive,” continue around the loop with a new stop by the building, turn left onto Pammel Creek Road and then left again to go straight south on the private road along the west side of the parking lot. It will continue to Hillview and then resume its current route.
[Comments included concerns with the timing of this route, especially left turns onto Pammel Creek during school drop off and pick up. It is already tight and adding this loop may make the bus late. There was also concern expressed about using private roads for the service. What if permission is withdrawn? The new stop at the building rather than at the intersection with Pammel Creek Road was also a concern. How will people get from this stop to the school? What about people wishing to access the bus from Pammel Creek Road - now they will have to travel up the horseshoe drive, where there are no sidewalks, to get to the stop. The school district says they will build and maintain a path, but no details were given and there were worries that having young children walk on a path through a wooded area might pose a danger. No school district representatives were present at this meeting.]
Route 8:
Northbound: Rather than traveling north from the Transfer Point, the bus would go east on Clinton to George, then turn right on George to St. Cloud Street. It will turn left onto St. Cloud with a new stop near the Schuh Homes, then continue up River Valley Drive to resume its current route at the Gillette Street (County B) intersection.
Southbound – Rather than turning right onto Gillette Street at the River Valley Drive stoplight, the bus will continue south on River Valley drive which turns into St. James and then St. Cloud Street. At the George Street stoplight, the bus will turn right and continue north up George Street to Clinton Street and resume its current route.
The section of current Route 8 that would be removed due to the change, north and east of the Clinton/Caledonia transfer point, is already covered by the #6 or #5.
[This was presented as a way for those living in Schuh homes to access the Festival Foods grocery store in Crossing Meadow, but the Route 8 service is minimal, only hourly on weekdays between 6:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., so its usefulness for this purpose was questioned. The #5 bus already stops well within the quarter-mile “good service” range on George near Hagar Street. The timing of this proposed route was also questioned.]
