If you use the library, you probably feel pretty lucky when you can find a place to park, but that luck may run out once some landscaping is set in, wiping out lots and lots of spots.
It's a lot that many say is too small to begin with, and one day it could shrink to just 10 spaces. If that happens, you may end up parking in the Jefferson ramp across the street, and that's not sitting well with everyone.
"The biggest problem would be people with young children crossing the street, and older people like with canes who would have to cross," says Bob Polzin of Wausau. "The traffic pattern would change some because 2nd St. will be closed off between Washington and Jefferson St."
That's because of a plan to put a pedestrian walkway in from 5th St. to the river.
"In planning to do that, we had several options in how to accommodate handicap access from 1st St. down to the river because of the slope, so some of the parking had to go in the option the committee selected," says Mayor Linda Lawrence.
Plus, Lawrence says downtown wasn't designed with large surface lots in mind. That helps make the land more valuable, and about having to cross what could be a very busy 1st St.?
Lawrence says the skywalk from the ramp to Wausau Benefits will help a great deal. The plan's already been approved in the city budget, but the money for it hasn't been borrowed yet.
