(Orleans)– The Mayor of Orleans says he, so far, has not been contacted by RAGBRAI officials on the possibility of that city being a pass through on this year’s ride. Bill Maas tells KUOO news that was the case at least as of this past Friday…
“Probably if they do contact us we’re going to have a problem because as some of you know the way Orleans is laid out it’s laid out in a linear form and if you have a construction site going on on one street, there’s no way to run a parallel street with it because, in fact, most places there’s only one street going through following the lakeshore and stuff, so.”
And while there’s been talk of utilizing the trail system as a possible route, Maas says he has some concerns with that…
“We’ve got a very good trail system. I’m on the Trails Board also and we’ve got a very good system of trails. The problem is when you start talking 10, 15, 20,000 bicycles that kind of magnifies our safety issues and things. I’m sure that there will be also a lot people that will probably be camping in friend’s yards or staying with friends when they have the overnight stay in Milford, but some of them will probably be staying up in Orleans anyway. It’s kind of a conundrum, I think, to figure out if the whole mass can come through or not.”
Maas also referred to a major road project this summer in Orleans that will result in a stretch of 140th Street from Peoria Avenue to Hill Avenue along the south side of Big Spirit Lake being torn up. He says delaying that project isn’t an option…
“This is one of those times where we can’t afford to sit back and tell a contractor no, we can’t start yet this yet, you know.”
While the overnight stops for this year’s route, including those in Milford and Estherville, have already been announced, RAGBRAI officials say the rest of the route, including the pass through communities, won’t be revealed until May. RAGBRAI begins July 19th in Orange City with Milford being the first overnight stop on this year’s route.
