"The road has been torn up for months," Sara Parisi, owner of Bad Guys Bagels at 501 E. State St., told the Kane County Chronicle in August. "We're telling customers to come in through the back on Route 25 and avoid the construction."
That advice covers most of what you need for Geneva's east side right now. The Illinois Department of Transportation is rebuilding East State Street, which is Route 38, from Glengarry Drive to the Fox River. The City of Geneva expects substantial completion in late 2027. Until then, the corridor runs on two clocks. During work hours, traffic can narrow to one lane. Outside them, it goes back to one lane each way. The shops, restaurants and services along it rarely need you to come in on Route 38 at all.
The Street Changes When the Crews Clock Out
As of the city's October 9 update, traffic is still shifted to the north side of the road. That shift runs from the Fox River to just west of Kirk Road, with one lane open in each direction. On October 8, crews began laying water main and service lines across the highway. While that work is underway, traffic drops to a single lane controlled by flaggers. The city expects this to last about two weeks, moving from west to east through the work zone.
Here's how those two weeks look in practice:
- During work hours, Saturdays included: one lane with flaggers, and the city warns of "extensive delays in both directions."
- Outside work hours: back to one lane each way on the north side.
- On the south side: side streets can lose access for a short time while crews trench water main across them.
- Near Route 25: Archon, working for AT&T, is installing a precast concrete vault at the southwest corner of Routes 25 and 38. That work may shift lanes and cause delays on Route 25 itself.
Saturdays matter because that's when many households do errands, take kids to activities and go out for breakfast. A Saturday morning bagel run hits the flagged single lane. An early weekday dinner after the crews leave usually doesn't.
Route 25 Is the Way In
East State Street business owners all give the same tip. Parisi sends Bad Guys Bagels customers in from the back on Route 25. 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 told the Chronicle there are also ways to reach his restaurants from Route 25 without going through the construction.
"I'm sure it's going to be great, but until then, we're just trying to mitigate things." Sara Parisi, Bad Guys Bagels, to the Kane County Chronicle
Since the AT&T vault work may also shift lanes on Route 25 near Route 38, the back route will be busier and slower right at that corner for now. Still, the owners' advice holds up. The worst of the work is on Route 38 itself. IDOT's plan keeps access to side streets and businesses open, with occasional temporary closures.
The Businesses Behind the Cones
The work zone matters because of how many businesses it runs past. The city counts more than 65 businesses operating inside it, mostly small and locally owned, and says they "rely heavily on walk-in customers" for their day-to-day business. When the Geneva Chamber of Commerce posted a reminder on August 11 that the corridor is open, its partial list included businesses you probably visit regularly:
- Food: Gen-Hoe Restaurant, Riganato Old World Grille, Tacatz Tacos, Zen's Sushi Express
- Groceries and butcher: Aldi, Country Village Meats
- Bikes, dance and fitness: Mill Race Cyclery, DancEncounter, Bodylines
- Errands: The UPS Store, BMO Harris Bank, Image Awards, Engraving & Creative Keepsakes, Isaac's Upholstery & Furniture Solutions, The Collector's Kid
Two of those restaurants cover very different stretches of the corridor's history. Riganato has been open on East State since 2012. In August, the Chronicle reported that Honeybird Fried Chicken, across the street, "opened in April," which was the same month Stage 1 of the reconstruction was scheduled to begin. If you haven't tried it yet, Honeybird is one of the newest restaurants in town, and it opened in the middle of a work zone.
The orange figure smiling from the banners along the highway is Carl The Cone. He's the mascot of the city's "Carl The Cone: Support East State Street" campaign, and the Chronicle described him as "looking as sweet as candy corn." His banners and signs went up along the corridor in August. The city also launched a Support East State Street page and posts business features on its ExploreGenevaIL channels on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. If you want to know which East State shop to try next, those feeds are where the city posts about them.
The Chamber also suggests a way to help that costs nothing: share a photo of a past meal or purchase from one of these businesses, or reshare their posts on Facebook and Instagram.
How Long the Two-Clock Street Lasts
The timeline has been building for a while. Here's the sequence from the city's April 24 update and its October update:
- August 2025: utility relocation begins.
- March 2026: IDOT's reconstruction contractor starts work.
- Week of April 27, 2026: Stage 1 begins on the east half of Route 38, between East Side and Whitfield drives. Traffic shifts to the north side.
- Through spring 2027: Stage 1 continues. Crews lay water main on the south side from Route 25 to near Ridge and Briar lanes and replace pavement, sidewalk, lighting, storm sewer, curb, gutter and driveways.
- Late 2027: the project is expected to be substantially complete.
- The following year: remaining punch-list items get finished.
The Chronicle reported in August that the project costs $22 million and began in January. The city's own timeline separates the 2025 utility work from the March 2026 contractor start, so the dates above follow the city.
The city's October update covers current conditions, not the 2026 to 2027 winter or the start of the next stage. The city says all construction depends on the weather and can change. You can get updates as they're posted by signing up through Notify Me on the city's website.
What Comes Out the Other Side
The construction rebuilds the corridor for the walk-in traffic those 65-plus businesses depend on. When it's done, the stretch from Glengarry Drive to the river will have new sidewalks, new street lighting, new trees, bike lanes and streetscape improvements. The road will also be widened to add a shared left-turn lane along the whole corridor, the traffic signals will be upgraded, and the water main and storm drainage will be replaced.
Those additions fit businesses that depend on people walking in. Sidewalks and bike lanes serve customers arriving on foot or by bike. A continuous left-turn lane changes how drivers turn into a bagel shop or butcher counter on the opposite side of the street. For the next year, the way to Bad Guys Bagels, Honeybird and Country Village Meats is from Route 25, ideally after the crews have left for the day.
Selling a home on Geneva's east side while East State Street is under construction raises its own questions. Buyers will drive the corridor, and timing and presentation matter more than usual. Holzl Homes follows projects like this one closely, so we can show how a late-2027 finish date fits into your sale. Request your free home valuation, and we'll walk you through the numbers for your street.
