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AREA NEWS THE STANDARD Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Email: news@waukonstandard.com

Road closures and other information for area residents

to know for next week's RAGBRAI visit to Waukon
RAGBRAI XLV will be
trekking into Allamakee County
Friday, July 28 for a rst-ever
overnight stay in Waukon, bring-
ing with it more than 10,000
registered bicyclists, along with
additional support vehicles and
crews. Although the bicycle
riders will enter Waukon Friday
from the west on Old Highway
9/West Main Street (the west
edge of Waukon near Waukon
West Side Lumber) and exiting
via East Main Street/Elon Road
Saturday morning, that overnight
stay in Waukon will include en-
tertainment and other activities
in the downtown Waukon area,
along with camping and housing
overnight at locations virtually
reaching all corners of the com-
munity, and beyond.
As one might expect with such
a massive inux of people and
vehicles on two and four wheels,
a great amount of planning and
preparation has been undertaken
in the six months since the an-
nouncement of Waukon as the
nal overnight stop on this year's
RAGBRAI route. That planning
is reected in the map pictured at
right provided by Waukon RAG-
BRAI that shows corresponding
bicycle/shuttle routes, road clo-
sures, main open roads and of-
cer-controlled intersections for
the RAGBRAI event. The map
legend (directly to the right of
the beginning of this paragraph)
shows the markings used to in-
dicate the corresponding labeled
areas to be impacted by RAGB-
RAI's arrival.
To further correspond with
the map and all its markings,
local RAGBRAI ofcials have
also suggested the timeline listed
below of impact for local streets
and roadways in the Waukon
community, outlining when road
closures are anticipated to hap-
pen and at what locations. The
following information regarding
street closures has been provided
by the Waukon Police Depart-
ment:

THURSDAY, JULY 27
Beginning at 7 a.m.:
Street closures will begin
being put into effect in down-
town Waukon.
Vehicles in the downtown
area will be moved out.
Street Department per-
sonnel will be working to
close off access to all side
streets (depicted with solid
orange line bordering edges
of streets), starting with the
downtown area until done.

Beginning at 9 a.m.:
Downtown will be shut
down to vehicle trafc, except
for registered vendors.
Ofcers/volunteers will
begin to control detoured
routes.

Beginning at 12 Noon (sooner, if

possible):
State Highways 9 and
76 will be closed and detours
around Waukon in place:
- Combined 9/76 intersection
into Waukon will be barricaded at
Bodensteiner Implement (John
Deere) intersection; Highway 9
will be barricaded at its intersec-
tion with Iron Mine Drive north of
Waukon.
- Traffic traveling through
Waukon along Highways 9 or 76
will be rerouted into town on to
Ninth Street SW/NW and to Iron
Mine Drive if traveling to/from
Highway 9 north of Waukon.
The following city streets
will begin hard closure (de-
picted with solid orange line
lling street or bordering edge
of street):
- Allamakee Street hard clo-
sure to First Avenue NE/NW; and
will remained closed until Satur-
day morning.
- East Main Street hard
closure to Clinton Street; and
will be moved up to First Street
during the night (Clinton Street
residents may want to consider - Spring Avenue and First (Quillin's intersection); hard clo- SATURDAY, JULY 29 their driveways, as departing count for their own consideration for each resident's and visitor's
parking elsewhere Thursday eve- Avenue SW to West Street hard sure will begin 7 a.m. Friday. Beginning at 6 a.m.: bicycle trafc will be heavy. with the arrival of RAGBRAI, as patience and understanding with
ning through Saturday afternoon closure. Complete shut down of well as the safety of all involved. such a large event taking place
if needing to use their vehicles). - Rossville Road from Main Beginning Thursday afternoon: southeast section of town, ex- Local ofcials expect bicy- Overall, these same ofcials ask for the rst time ever in Waukon.
- West Main Street closure Street to Eleventh Avenue SW All side street access cept for designated cross traf- cle trafc to begin appearing in
to First Street NW/SW; and will soft closure put in place; hard from Main Street will begin c points (depicted with green Waukon prior to mid-morning,
be moved up to Second Street closure will begin 7 a.m. Friday. closing down (depicted with X). Side streets along East as some will leave the previous Safety and preparation suggestions
NW/SW Friday morning for hard - West Main Street soft solid orange line bordering Main will be closed until noon. overnight town of Cresco as soon
closure. closure to Ninth Street NW/SW edge of street) until nished. as the sun comes up and make for residents in regard to RAGBRAI
Side street access will remain By early afternoon: their way through Decorah, Os-
closed until Saturday after- RAGBRAI trafc and traf- sian, Castalia and Postville in In consideration of road closures and heavy bicycle traffic,
After being used for RAGBRAI, noon. c light intersection should be
clear and is hoped be open
good time before arriving for the
day in Waukon. That trafc will
all residents should prepare their households prior to RAGBRAI's
arrival:
we will be Thursday evening: for through local trafc. continue to increase as the day - Stock up on household groceries/supplies prior to local road clo-
rolls on.

SELLING RECYCLING
All side streets should be Streets will slowly open sures.
closed, except for the follow- up, allowing vendors to re- Upon arriving from the west - Have vehicles filled with gas prior to local road closures.
ing designated main open move equipment. via Old Highway 9/West Main - Conduct other downtown business prior to local road closures and

BINS AND TRASH CANS

roads (depicted with red
dashes---): Third Avenue SE/
SW, Second Street SE/NE, Sec-
(made locally by REEL CORE) ond Street NE/SE to East Main,
Third Avenue NE/NW, Ninth
By late afternoon:
State Highways 76 and
9 expected to be open for
through trafc, detour signs
Street, many bicyclists will stop
at the soccer eld/high school
area on the west edge of town
before dispersing to their re-
spective campground or housing
RAGBRAI's arrival or call ahead to see if your intended business is open.
Allow for extra time with traffic congestion.
- Do not expect to be able to park downtown or close to downtown.
Plan to walk several blocks if intending to visit downtown during RAGB-
RAI's festivities.

25.00
$
Street NW/SW.
FRIDAY, JULY 28
EACH Beginning at 7 a.m.:
All designated cross traf-
c points (depicted with green
Purchase now X) will be ofcer controlled
and a complete shutdown on
and receive after bike/shuttle routes (depicted
July 28, 2017. with yellow dashes---) for any
other trafc, except for as-
signed RAGBRAI vehicles.
TO PURCHASE: RAGBRAI bicycles will
email Nancy Schoh be entering Waukon from the
nschoh@fmsb4me.bank west on Old Highway 9 and
following designated bike
Make Checks Payable to: Waukon RAGBRAI routes (depicted with yellow
Mailing Address: PO Box 9, Waukon, IA 52172 dash---) to various campsites
depicted on map above.
taken down.
Additional Notes:
Old Highway 9 (west
of Waukon) will be open to
through trafc, but be aware
of bicycle trafc.
Elon Road will be open to
through trafc, but be aware
of bicycle trafc.
Residents living on Alla-
makee Street and West Main
Streets should make arrange-
ments to park vehicles on
side streets Friday and Satur-
day morning.
Residents living on East
Main Street should make
arrangements for Saturday
morning if needing to leave
locations throughout Waukon.
The designated routes these bi-
cyclists should be riding for their
entrance into town, their routes
to campgrounds/housing and
their exit from town are marked
on the above map with yellow
dashes. Routes that will be the
main open arteries around and
through Waukon are marked
in the above map with the red
dashes, with the green X areas
representing where trafc will be
controlled by law enforcement
and volunteers.
RAGBRAI organizers and
local public safety ofcials have
also provided the information
printed in the colored box at
right for residents to take into ac-
Suggested safety considerations in regard to bicycle traffic
during RAGBRAI:
- Back vehicles into driveways/garages in order to maintain best
visibility when exiting.
- Look in all directions and be careful opening car doors along
streets/roadways.
- Refrain from handing out anything to riders pedaling by, as they
have very little capacity to carry things on bicycles and reaching for
something can be distracting.
- Refrain from reaching out to shake hands or give "high-fives" to bi-
cycle riders, as it may cause a distraction and/or affect balance. Viewers
should not be standing in or that close to the traveled roadways.
- Do not spray bicycle riders with water to cool them down, unless
you ask them. Some may have supplies on their bicycles that cannot get
wet, and spraying them may also distract them or force them to swerve
suddenly to avoid unexpected water spray.
- Make sure pets are on a leash or properly penned to avoid run-
ning out into bicycle traffic.