As most residents of Allamakee County know, the Des Moines Register’s RAGBRAI® XLV bike ride is coming to the county Friday, July 28-Saturday, July 29. As you can imagine, with some 10,000-plus bike riders coming to the county along with the support vehicles that follow along, there will be a “slight” travel and safety impact on the roads they will be using and within the towns they will be passing through and staying in.
Therefore, I wanted to address several safety issues related to RAGBRAI, including the bike route and riders, support vehicles, the community impacts and emergency shelter and response plans being prepared for their safety. My focus for this first RAGBRAI article will be the bike route and its impact on our rural roadway network, with the other topics covered in future publications.