Fairfield RAGBRAI committee holds town halls

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield RAGBRAI Executive Committee hosted a pair of town hall meetings Tuesday at the library to inform the public about RAGBRAI’s upcoming stop in Fairfield on July 26.

The town halls were held just a few days after Fairfield hosted the RAGBRAI Route Inspection Pre-Ride, where cyclists from the state organization ride the entire route in advance to ensure everything goes smoothly for the thousands of riders who will participate in the real thing from July 21-27.

One of the themes of Tuesday’s town halls was getting the public to understand the difficulty of driving through Fairfield that day, and that people who live along the route will have trouble leaving their driveways that morning and afternoon.

The riders will start their day in Ottumwa and enter Fairfield on Libertyville Road, turning north on Key Boulevard, east on Fillmore, north of Fourth Street and then east onto Broadway and into the downtown. Once the riders have had a chance to stretch, eat lunch and shop at local businesses, they’ll leave town by traveling north on B Street, turn east on Kirkwood, and then north on Pleasant Plain Road where they will travel through Brighton, Wayland and Trenton before ending the day in Mt. Pleasant.

The Fairfield RABBRAI Executive Committee members said that none of these roads will technically be closed to traffic, but motorists are advised to avoid them.

Signs will direct riders to the downtown where all the food and entertainment will be. As of Tuesday, 20 vendors had signed up to set up shop along Broadway Avenue. Fairfield RAGBRAI Executive Committee member Terry Baker said they are producing a Fairfield RAGBRAI that should be available for pre-order later this week.

Baker said most of the riders will leave town by 3 p.m. that day. She said the riders should be good for local businesses, but at the same time cautioned them not to purchase too much inventory, and instead to treat July 26 like a more normal business day.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com