What’s Happening at Route 23 & I-90? An Update on Our Progress
POSTED ON: APRIL 7, 2026
The City of Marengo has been awarded a $4,649,628 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) — state funding that will complete the final phase of the Route 23 Utility Extension Project. If you’ve seen the backhoes and pipe crews along the Route 23 corridor lately, here’s exactly what’s happening and why it matters for your tax bill.
Why the Exit Alone Wasn’t Enough
Since the interchange opened in 2019, many have asked: “We have the exit, so where are the businesses?” It’s a fair question. To a developer, an interchange without water and sewer is like a house with a front door but no plumbing — it looks nice from the outside, but nobody can actually live or work there.
Pavement alone doesn’t bring in the types of businesses — like manufacturing and logistics — that create jobs and support our tax base. Large employers look for speed. If a company has to wait years for a city to dig trenches and lay pipes before they can even pour a foundation, they will simply move their jobs and tax dollars to a different town that is already “plugged in.”
What you see today is the final push to bring those utilities directly to the development sites near the tollway. This makes the land “shovel-ready.” When a major employer looks at Marengo, they will finally see a site where they can start building and hiring immediately.
The Big News: A $4.6 Million Boost — and a Competitive Win
We are thrilled to announce that the City of Marengo has been awarded a $4,649,628 grant through Governor Pritzker’s Regional Site Readiness Program. Marengo competed statewide and received the second-largest capital grant in the program’s first wave — one of only seven sites selected across all of Illinois, out of a $25.9 million round of awards.
Why is this a big deal? This grant covers the cost of the final phase of the Route 23 Utility Extension. By securing these state funds, we can finish this massive infrastructure project while significantly reducing the financial burden on our local taxpayers.
As our City Administrator Derik Morefield put it: “Utility extension along Route 23 to I-90 represents the most important economic development opportunity for Marengo and western McHenry County. It opens the potential for significant industrial, commercial, and residential development, which will affect the City of Marengo’s economic health for decades to come.”
A Journey That Started in 2019
This project has been years in the making, and your patience through the phases has been appreciated:
- 2019: The I-90/IL-23 interchange opened, giving Marengo its first-ever direct interstate access — and the only interchange in McHenry County.
- 2022: The State of Illinois awarded Marengo nearly $27 million to begin extending utilities from the city toward the interchange.
- 2025: McHenry County approved a $750,000 match loan to help secure an additional $3 million Site Readiness grant, funding the next leg of the project.
- June 2026 (Phase 1): Utilities reach local employers like Unilock.
- October 2026 (Phase 2): Utilities extended to approximately Anthony Road.
- Today (Phase 3): This new $4.6M grant funds the final push, connecting our city’s infrastructure all the way to the tollway corridor. The current estimated timeline for project completion is the end of 2028.
How This Benefits Our Residents
Our goal is to keep Marengo a great place to live by balancing our budget and protecting our residents’ wallets. By attracting industrial and commercial businesses to this corridor:
- Tax Relief: Industrial businesses contribute significantly to the local tax base. This helps fund our schools and city services so that the financial bill doesn’t fall entirely on residential homeowners.
- Local Jobs: We want our residents to have the option to work closer to home in stable, high-paying industries.
- Modern Infrastructure: The upgrades we are making today ensure our utility systems are reliable and sustainable for the entire community for decades to come.
To put it simply:
Before this project: an interchange with no utilities, no development-ready land, and no competitive advantage. After this project: 170+ shovel-ready acres at McHenry County’s only interstate interchange, connected to full city water and sewer.
We are proud of and grateful for the collaboration between the City, the Region 1 Planning Council (R1), McHenry County and the State of Illinois that made this latest round of funding possible.
Thank you for your patience as we complete this final phase. We’re not just moving dirt — we’re building a foundation for a more stable and prosperous Marengo.
Questions? Please email us at marengopublicworks@cityofmarengo.com.
