"We're telling customers to come in through the back on Route 25 and avoid the construction." That's Sara Parisi, owner of Bad Guy Bagels at 501 E. State St., talking to Shaw Local in August about a road she said "has been torn up for months."
Her advice holds for much of Geneva this fall. On East State Street and on the Fox River Trail, the front entrance is fenced off and the side entrance is open. The work forcing those side routes is mostly about pedestrians and cyclists, too. It includes wider sidewalks, a multi-use path, bike lanes, and a new sewer crossing under the river that runs past the trail.
Where Route 38 Stands as of Oct. 2
The Illinois Department of Transportation is rebuilding East State Street from Glengarry Drive to the Fox River. The project includes widening, new streetscape, bike lanes, upgraded traffic signals, new street lighting, and new water main and storm drainage. Shaw Local puts the cost at $22 million and says work started in January.
Here's the setup as of the City's Oct. 2 update:
- Traffic pattern: All traffic is shifted to the north side of the road, from the Fox River to just west of Kirk Road, with one lane open in each direction.
- Delays during work hours: Over the next few weeks, crews will install water services across East State Street at intervals, so expect slowdowns in both directions.
- Side streets: Access to side streets along the south side of the zone may be briefly interrupted while water main is trenched across them.
- Where crews are: Water main work was wrapping up near Nebraska Street. Eastbound roadway excavation was set to finish near Harrison Street, with both crews moving east next. Archon, working for AT&T, is rehabilitating utility structures near Route 25 and Crissey Avenue.
The City expects the whole project to finish in late 2027, with punch-list work the following year. When Stage 1 began in April, the City said it would likely run through spring 2027. The project flyer puts Stage 2 in spring 2027 and Stage 3 in spring and summer 2027. So the one-lane setup is likely to last through winter.
The Back Door Is Route 25
The City calls it more than 65 businesses inside the work zone. Business access is supposed to stay open, apart from occasional short closures announced in advance. In practice, two owners on the corridor's western end gave Shaw Local the same tip.
Jimmy Nicolaou owns Riganato Old World Grille at 700 E. State St. and Honeybird Fried Chicken across the street at 427 E. State St. He said customers can reach both restaurants from Route 25 and skip the construction. Riganato has been open since 2012. Honeybird opened in April, just months into the project.
"We're a little down, but we are fighting. There's nothing we can do about it." — Jimmy Nicolaou, to Shaw Local in August
The City's response is a mascot. Carl The Cone is a smiling traffic cone carrying shopping bags and a "Support East State Businesses" sign. He's on banners along the corridor and has his own page, Support East State Street, on the City's website. His shape is close to a piece of candy corn, so he fits right in on an October drive.
The Geneva Chamber of Commerce published its own list of East State businesses open during construction in August. Names on it include:
- Bad Guy Bagels
- Riganato Old World Grille
- Gen-Hoe
- Country Village Meats
- Mill Race Cyclery
- DancEncounter
- Aldi
- The Collector's Kid
- Isaac's Upholstery
- State Street Collision
- Bodylines
- Bria Health Services
- BMO Harris Bank
The Chamber suggested two things. Visit in person, and if you can't shop, share the businesses' social media posts. A route that saves you the lane shift also gets you to the counter faster.
Down at the River, It's the Same Idea
The other big project this fall is out of sight. Geneva is replacing its single 20-inch sanitary sewer crossing under the Fox River with two new 20-inch lines. That crossing carries all sewage from the west side of Geneva to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the upgrade is meant to reduce the risk of overflows. The trail runs right over the job, so the work has moved from one bank to the other.
The east bank is done for now. The east-side trail section reopened on Thursday, Sept. 24, and the detour through the treatment plant campus came down Sept. 28. The stretch just south of the Union Pacific-West tracks has a temporary crushed-gravel surface. It's scheduled for full repair in 2027, after the wastewater work is finished.
The west bank is now closed, near the Kane County Government Center on Route 31, south of the railroad. The closure started the week of Sept. 14. The first estimate was about two months, but the City's latest notice says only that the detour will stay "for the next few months." Here's the detour:
- Heading north, leave the trail and take South Third Street.
- Turn east on South Street.
- Rejoin the Fox River Trail near the pedestrian bridge under the train tracks.
- If you're crossing the bridge from the east side of the river, run the same steps in reverse.
Regular trail users may know this route already. It's the same detour used during Union Pacific's Third Main Line project. The City posts a detour map, and project updates are on the Wastewater System Improvements page.
What East State Street Looks Like When the Cones Leave
The finished corridor is built around walking more than a typical road job. The City's flyer lays out the plans for each stretch of the road:
| Stretch | What's planned |
|---|---|
| Fox River bridge to Longview Drive | Sidewalks with at least 5 feet of clear width plus a brick border, for 7 feet total |
| Longview Drive to Glengarry Drive | A new 5-foot sidewalk |
| South side, Simpson Street to Kirk Road | A 10-foot multi-use path |
| Whole corridor | Sidewalks, paths and crossings brought up to current ADA standards, plus concrete pavement and many new trees |
The road gets bike lanes, a shared center left-turn lane, new street lighting, and upgraded signals. That 10-foot path is wide enough for walkers and cyclists to share. Paired with the bike lanes, it should make East State a more realistic way to bike from the Kirk Road side toward the river, where the Fox River Trail is getting its own permanent repair in 2027.
One more detour is coming. Sometime in 2027 during Stage 2, eastbound State Street drivers turning left onto Route 25 will face a short detour while crews work on the median and center lanes. Because the shops' back door is on Route 25, it's worth a look at the City's updates around then.
Randall Road, After Dark
On the west side, the work is happening at night. A City notice set overnight resurfacing on Randall Road to start Sept. 24, from Kaneville Road north to Route 38, from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Paving should finish the week of Oct. 19, with lane striping running into early November. Shaw Local reported a Sept. 21 start, with work from Keslinger Road to Route 38 expected to take about two months. Whichever end point is right, plan for nightly lane closures on Randall through October if you head home late from Geneva Commons.
Geneva Commons has news of its own. The former Red Lobster at 902 Commons Drive has been empty since August 2024. A proposed three-tenant building there names Shake Shack and Cava, with a pickup lane for Cava app orders. The City's agenda puts the site plan in front of the commission on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. It's a proposal for now, not an opening date.
Dates Outside the Work Zone
Downtown's late-fall calendar is set, and none of it is on Route 38:
- Cocoa & Chocolate Crawl: Saturday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Christmas Walk: Friday, Dec. 4, 6 to 9:30 p.m. in downtown Geneva, with Santa and the tree lighting between 6 and 6:30 p.m.
- Holiday House Tour: Dec. 4 and 5, with homes open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Until then, the City sends road construction updates through its Notify Me service. It's the easiest way to hear when the water main crews move east, or when the west bank of the trail reopens.
If you're wondering how a multi-year road project and a rebuilt streetscape might affect a home near East State Street, The Kelly Schmidt Group is glad to talk it through, no pressure. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll help you weigh the construction years against what the corridor will offer once the cones are gone.
