Kleis: Parking on East St. Germain Street Being Considered
ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- On-street parking may be coming back to East St. Germain Street in St. Cloud.
Mayor Dave Kleis says it is very preliminary but that option is on the table as the Downtown Task Force looks at ways to revitalize the downtown on both sides of the river.
He says with the eastside buildings being bought up and revitalized, the new owners have also been asking for better parking.
Kleis says the first step in the process would be a traffic study.
It's a little challenging right now with what's happing on Highway 10 and 23 because they would be skewed tremendously. We've got to know if you're going to take a lane off, and add parking to both sides, how does that match with traffic flow?
Kleis says the city could do something temporarily as it looks at permanent options. He says a parking ramp is also not out of the question as the city looks at all options for economic revitalization.
There are all kinds of options for parking, not just the street. Possibly with some of the development on the east side parking structures. How does that compliment going forward?
Kleis says any change to the street configuration would require a lot of public input, but what is being considered is one-lane traffic in each direction with a center turn lane and parking on both sides of the street all the way from the Mississippi River to Highway 10.
New businesses along East St. Germain Street include Iron Street Distillery and Harverster Square. There are also revitalization efforts underway at the Mackrell Building and the former Dutchmaid Bakery building.
The city removed on-street parking on East St. Germain Street over 15 years ago.
The city will be asking the Minnesota State Legislature for $100 million in bonding money during the next session which would be used to help revitalize the downtown on both sides of the river.
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