How to roll with it: What you need to know about RAGBRAI L's July visit to Des Moines
What could be the biggest day in RAGBRAI history will come July 26, when the 50th anniversary edition of the ride journeys 50 miles from Ames to Des Moines.
A record-breaking throng is expected to pedal past the Iowa Capitol that afternoon and on to the day's campground in Water Works Park, where an evening of festivities is planned, including a free concert by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The route inspection team for the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa made the ride on Wednesday, Day 4 of its journey across the state. Based on interviews with local ride organizers and public officials, here's what to expect when the ride returns to the city where the idea for it originated, at the Des Moines Register.
How many riders will be coming to Des Moines?
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RAGBRAI is the largest annual week-long bike tour anywhere, and its golden anniversary is driving unprecedented interest: 28,000 riders have registered ― half again as many as last year's well-attended ride. And on Wednesday, July 26, the number pedaling into town will be swelled by unregistered tag-alongs who want to share in the historic day. When the ride last passed close to Des Moines on a Winterset-to-Indianola segment in 2019, an estimated 40,000 rode.
“We may see 50,000 to 100,000 people ride that day," said Trina Flack, vice president of sales at the Catch Des Moines visitors and tourism bureau and one of the city’s lead RAGBRAI organizers.
How will RAGBRAI enter Des Moines?
After riders leave Ames, they're expected to roll through Ankeny's Uptown and Prairie Trail districts. RAGBRAI officials and Des Moines organizers caution that the Des Moines route still may change, but Flack said the tentative plan is for riders to enter Des Moines via U.S. 69, better known as Ankeny Boulevard in Ankeny and as East 14th Street in Des Moines. Reaching University Avenue, they will follow it five blocks west before turning south on East Ninth Street and crossing Interstate 235 to pass directly in front of the Iowa Capitol.
Reaching the heart of the East Village, they'll turn west again on Walnut Street, cross the Des Moines River, and head straight through the middle of downtown. They'll hang a left on 15th Street when they see Exile Brewing's rooftop Statue of Liberty crown to connect to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, then cross the Raccoon River before going south on Fleur Drive into Water Works Park.
Why Walnut Street? Because city planners say drivers already are used to it being blocked. The portion between Seventh and Eighth streets was barricaded for almost a decade after a 2014 fire destroyed the former Younkers building there. The street finally reopened June 1 with the dedication of the EMC Downtown Park on the department store's former site.
The street also has a new blockage between Fifth and Sixth avenues, where construction workers are preparing to demolish the Kaleidoscope building to make way for a 33-story apartment tower. Des Moines traffic engineer John Davis said the city believes it will be possible to pull the barriers away temporarily to allow riders access.
“We believe that we will be able to make arrangements to the development agreements to allow the ride to occur and utilize Walnut, as opposed to jogging and making left turns and right turns,” Davis said.
It will be less disruptive than if RAGBRAI took other streets into town, like Grand Avenue, he said. And with sewer construction on the north lanes of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway from Southwest 15th Street to Southwest Second Street, RAGBRAI is left with limited options to get through downtown, he said.
“That is an attractive element to it,” Davis said of using Walnut Street. “Of the roads that we have that we're making improvements to, or we have construction activity, Walnut was the best that was left.”
Besides, in an appropriate tribute, the ride will go right past the Register's fifth-floor offices overlooking Walnut on the south side of Capital Square.
How will RAGBRAI leave Des Moines?
Again, all routing is tentative, but Flack said the plan on July 27 is for riders leaving Water Works to take the same route out of downtown, but keep going east on Walnut to the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Details are still being finalized, but riders may pass through the fairgrounds before making their way through Pleasant Hill to Altoona, the day's first pass-through town, Flack said.
What times will cyclists be in Des Moines?
Riders will likely start arriving in Des Moines between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. July 26, Flack said.
The next day, July 27, will be one of the longest rides of the week, with 82 miles and 3,652 feet of climb between Des Moines and Tama-Toledo. So most riders will leave by 10 a.m., Flack said.
Will roads be closed?
Some roads along the route through the city will be closed for at least a few hours, but organizers are still working to specify which ones and to determine the intersections where law enforcement officers will periodically stop the cyclists, allowing traffic through.
“Chances are there will be a portion of the day that they are closed to traffic because if you think about 20,000 to 50,000 or more cyclists on a road, there is very limited opportunity to mix vehicle traffic in and it doesn’t sound safe," Flack said.
East 14th Street is expected to close to traffic at some point on July 26 and reopen that evening, she said. Southbound portions of Fleur Drive will remain open, but northbound lanes will likely close to accommodate bike traffic, she said.
Walnut Street will need to be closed for much of July 26 and the morning of July 27, she said.
Will downtown businesses be disrupted on July 26 and 27?
Des Mones police so far haven't shared a traffic plan, but it might be a good work-from-home opportunity for some employers with downtown locations.
Flack said it's inevitable businesses will be disrupted, but getting the chance to show off downtown to riders from as far away as Europe and Australia is worth the inconvenience.
"We have an opportunity to bring thousands and thousands of people to our metro who don’t normally come here and who definitely wouldn’t be here on a Wednesday in July," she said.
At-large Des Moines City Council member Carl Voss said downtown residents will be able to get to Interstate 235 if they need to, and pointed out that it's been 10 years since the ride last visited Des Moines.
"It's been 3,650 days since RAGBRAI has been here," Voss said. "Could you be inconvenienced for a little bit of time on Wednesday and Thursday?"
Where will the main campground be?
All campers — whether in tents or RVs — will stay at Water Works Park. Covering about 1,500 acres, it's almost twice the size of New York's Central Park.
The park has vast, flat tracts of open space sufficient for more than 28,000 campers, said Sam Carrell, executive director of the Water Works Park Foundation, keeping in mind as Flack noted that many of the additional riders expected Wednesday will be locals who will sleep at home that night. With more than 1,000 hotel rooms in downtown Des Moines beckoning to riders who've been in tents for most of the week, it's also expected to be a big hotel night.
The night's concert will be held at the Lauridsen Amphitheater, which is also in Water Works Park. Park staff members think the free event could draw 35,000 to 50,000 people, Carrell said. There also will be food and beverage trucks and vendors.
The park is about 2 miles long, end to end, so tractor-pulled trams like the ones used at the Iowa State Fair will take riders from one end of the park to the other, Carrell said.
“If you want to get off your bike you can get off your bike. If you don’t, you can ride back and forth between the areas,” he said.
If I want to go to the concert, will there be a shuttle to Water Works Park?
A park-and-ride DART shuttle will provide transportation between downtown and the campground. The cost of the shuttle is still being determined.
Pickup and parking locations for the shuttle also are still being finalized, Flack and Carrell said.
Only vehicles with RAGBRAI parking permits will be allowed into Water Works Park. Residents who want to go to the park will be encouraged to take the shuttle, leaving their cars in downtown garages. A small number of parking spaces will be available on the football fields across George Flagg Parkway from the park, priced at $20, Carrell said.
Parking at Gray's Lake Park across from Water Works Park may also be available, he said, though some of the spaces there may have to be reserved for emergency vehicles.
How many port-a-potties will there be at Water Works Park?
The Water Works Park Foundation will provide 450 kybos ― if you're from outside Iowa, get used to that term ― and RAGBRAI will provide 100 more. Many riding teams and charter services rent their own port-a-potties as well.
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Why will no RAGBRAI festivities be held on the Principal Riverwalk?
During RAGBRAI's 2013 visit, Water Works Park also served as the main campground, but the Lauridsen Amphitheater was not built yet, so the concert was held on the Principal Riverwalk. That wasn't ideal because regular customers of some businesses stayed home, not wanting to deal with the additional traffic, Flack said.
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“Typically RAGBRAI comes into a community and everybody is all in one spot doing the same thing. In Des Moines, that looks different,” Flack said. “By moving it to Water Works Park, we’re trying to provide that RAGBRAI feel where everything is all in one spot, but we’re also trying to support the businesses in the community with the riders coming through.”
What other events are going on that day?
July 26, when RAGBRAI arrives, also will be the first day of the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics at Drake University and the last day of Tech Hub Live, an ag tech event, at the Iowa Events Center.
“It’s a very busy time for our city,” Flack said.
How many volunteers are needed?
From 400 to 600 volunteers are needed. To sign up, go to ragbraidesmoines.com. Volunteers are needed for the beverage station, campgrounds and hospitality needs, Flack said. Some volunteers will be at the Iowa Capitol helping single-day riders with parking, and some will be at Water Works Park.
“It’s really anything from information, hospitality, wayfinding,” Flack said. “There’s a whole variety.”
Who will pay for police officers to work RAGBRAI?
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office will assist RAGBRAI with bike traffic as it comes through the county, said sheriff’s spokesperson Capt. Ryan Evans. The number of deputies who will work has not been determined, Evans said.
Deputy Polk County Administrator Sarah Boese said it also has not been determined how much it will cost the county, but that the county will not be reimbursed.
Des Moines police did not respond to a request for information.
Across all jurisdictions, more officers will work in Polk County than on a normal day. But many officers who help out with RAGBRAI will work during regular hours, as opposed to the nighttime and weekend extra duty required for some events. Costs for any other officers who work will be paid by the Des Moines organizing committee, Flack said.
“There’s an operating budget that we’re looking for ways to offset all of those expenses,” Flack said. “Same as Ironman.”
Staff writer Bill Steiden contributed to this article.
Philip Joens has ridden RAGBRAI 17 times and completed the river-to-river trek six times. He covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Traffic, camping, concert: What to know about RAGBRAI in Des Moines
