Glenwood Expecting Up To 25,000 Visitors For RAGBRAI

If you have business on Town Square this week, you’ll want to get it done before Friday.

By the time the sun rises on Friday morning, the entire Town Square will be shut off to motor vehicle traffic as the city prepares to host up to 25,000 visitors this weekend as the start town for RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa).

Glenwood Police Chief Eric Johansen said Sharp Street, Walnut Street, First Street and Vine Street will all be shut down early Friday morning. The closures on Walnut and Vine streets will extend for approximately one-half block north of First Street.

“All the around the square, we’ll have to hard close Friday,” Johansen said.

On the northeast corner of Town Square, Vine and First Streets will be lined with merchandise vendors on Saturday, open from Noon to 9 p.m., as part of the official RAGBRAI Vendor Expo. More than two dozen food vendors will set up on the southwest corner of the square and the drive-through parking lot on the south side of the Mills County Courthouse.

The northwest corner of the square, as well as sections of Walnut and First Streets, will serve as the Glenwood RAGBRAI Beverage garden, with an entertainment stage positioned at the intersection of First and Walnut.

On Saturday, parking near Town Square will be extremely limited, confined to side streets within walking distance of the square. The city parking lot on Coolidge Street, behind Family Fare grocery store, is also an option, Johansen said.

On Friday, Johansen said motorists traveling east on Sharp Street will be able to turn south on Walnut Street when reaching the Square. Motorists traveling west on Sharp Street, will be forced to turn south on Vine Street when reaching the square.
Saturday will be a different story as bicycle and pedestrian traffic increases on Sharp Street between Glenwood Lake Park and Vine Street. Johansen said “A Road Closed To Through Traffic” sign will be posted on Sharp.

“Bicycle traffic on Sharp Street will begin to increase and we advise not to travel that road unless absolutely necessary,” he said. “The least amount of vehicle traffic we have on Sharp Street Saturday, the better off it will be.”

Johansen said he expects an influx of riders and RAGBRAI support personnel to arrive on Friday, but the vast majority of participants to roll in on Saturday.

Participants are being directed nto Glenwood from the east on Ingrum Ave.

RAGBRAI LI begins in Glenwood Sunday morning. Riders will leave town on Redbud Ave. east of Glenwood Community High School and head east to Silver City, Henderson and Emerson before their overnight stop in Red Oak.

Glenwood is serving as the starting point for RAGBRAI  for the eighth time.

Additional information regarding RAGBRAI activities, including maps of the city and Town Square, can be found inside the 2024 Glenwood RAGBRAI special section published in today’s edition of The Opinion-Tribune.