Opinion

Spinning wheels

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Our City Council has taken procrastination to a level never before seen at even College Library. Thursday, Jan. 8, a special committee of the city government met to examine the placement of a parking ramp in the mid-State Street neighborhood. After months of discussions and planning, the council’s own proposal finally came to a vote. It was promptly rejected, by a 5-2 decision, with three members absent.

We have written on the utterly ridiculous nature of this situation before. According to Mark Olinger, director of the Department of Planning and Development for the city of Madison, the decision to add more parking to the mid-State Street area has actually been debated since the mid-1970s.

We continue to wonder why this process is taking so long. Money is not an issue. Adequate funds, to the tune of $5.5 million, have already been set aside for the project. Even the members of the committee acknowledge this. And there is no question that the proposal garners considerable public support.

Students (the primary residents of the neighborhood) need an increased supply of flexible downtown parking options to help drive down outrageously high parking rates. Moreover, business owners, always in need of more patronage, fully support anything that makes their establishments easier to visit.

Yet the committee continues to spin its wheels, squabbling over where to build the facility. Some members, to be sure, are concerned that the ramp would result in the destruction of three houses (inhabited by students) on the edge of a federal historical district. But, as we have said before, these homes see more keg parties than they do historic visits. And the parking situation continues to deteriorate.

Residents must wonder why the committee is so disorganized, disjointed, and out-of-touch that it actually rejected its own proposal. We call on Madison City Mayor Dave Cieslewicz to use his political sway to take charge of the situation and set a final deadline for the committee to offer a final proposal. Students, business owners, and downtown patrons deserve more than this unending waste of time.