La Crescent outlines traffic, safety and volunteer plans as city seeks county permit for USA Cycling National Gravel Championship

La Crescent officials on Tuesday presented a traffic-control and safety plan to the Houston County Board for the Sept. 20 USA Cycling National Gravel Championship, saying the event will start in La Crescent, travel dozens of miles across county roads and include an elite "protected bubble" that will be escorted by pilot cars and moto officials.

Mayor Mike Bollinger said the race is part of USA Cycling's national championship series and drew about 629 registered riders so far, including a 40-rider men's elite field and 23 women elite. "This isn't, the average bicycle race," he said, adding the event is part of a regional effort to market Minnesota as a gravel-cycling destination.

The county hearing focused on 14 special-event permit conditions and how responsibilities will be split. Tyler Banesh, La Crescent public works director, described a plan with 17 flagged locations on county highways, professional flaggers rotating through assignments, a police or reserve officer at a high-impact intersection, and pilot cars for the elite pack. Banesh said the elite group will be escorted on the right-hand side of the road and that riders who fall back must follow the rules of the road. "As soon as somebody is deemed not competitive anymore, they fall back ... and they are required to follow all the rules of the road," he said.

Banesh and race organizers said the elite pilot car, motorcycle official and follow car will have point-to-point radio communication and can suspend the race if a hazard appears. "We can't control an obstruction. We can control the race. So we stop the race instead of trying to stop the farmer," Banesh said.

County staff highlighted several items they wanted changed in the permit wording, including replacing "local authorities" with "permittee" for a clause that makes the event sponsor responsible for labor costs for traffic control. The county also asked the city to show proof of insurance and to provide a map of flagger and marshal locations.

Several commissioners and residents said townships learned about the event late. Commissioner (first name not specified) said she had encouraged earlier outreach; another commissioner said nine of 10 townships had agreed to the route but one remained opposed. Mayor Bollinger and La Crescent organizers said they had worked with Explore La Crosse and USA Cycling and that the route changed late in planning because of conflicts with another nearby race and due to recently chip-sealed roads on an originally proposed segment.

Organizers said USA Cycling and the race director, Medalist, will carry insurance and that the city will contract for flaggers, ambulances and medical presence. They said Tri-State Ambulance and Caledonia Ambulance were lined up for ambulance support and that contracted trainers and an on-site command post would handle rider aid requests, with an athlete-tracking app available to riders.

County staff asked organizers to secure law-enforcement commitments for state roads (MnDOT/state patrol) and to document coverage for county roads. City officials said MnDOT had given preliminary approval and that La Crescent would provide city police reserves and, if necessary, paid officers for town coverage. "The city has committed to kind of being the lead agency of that lead out and kind of the traffic control portions in town," an organizer said.

Organizers said they will send letters to every address along the course and to continue working with townships, and they acknowledged gaps in volunteer recruitment for course marshals. Commissioner concerns focused on timing and public outreach: "We should have had these conversations a long time ago," one commissioner said, urging earlier coordination with townships.

The board reviewed the permit conditions but did not vote to approve or deny a permit; county staff has authority to issue the permit once outstanding items are resolved. Commissioners asked that La Crescent provide finalized insurance certificates, a flagger/marshall map, a final traffic-control plan, documentation of paid or contracted flaggers, and confirmation of law-enforcement coverage for state and county roads before the county issues final approval.