It turns out there was a reason for moving RAGBRAI away from Brandon and Urbana: Riders would have been going through a construction zone.
According to Vinton Newspapers, IA 150 is being resurfaced between Vinton and Independence, including paving the shoulders. The project started last week. Having driven IA 150 between Urbana and Vinton a lot, I have to ask: WHAT shoulders?
The roundabout at the Urbana corner is still coming next year, the story says.