On East State Street This Fall, the Easiest Way In Is From Route 25

"We're telling customers to come in through the back on Route 25 and avoid the construction."

That's what Sara Parisi, owner of Bad Guys Bagels at 501 E. State St., told the Kane County Chronicle in August. She also said, "The road has been torn up for months." Her tip works for more than her own shop. It's the best way to get around the east side of Geneva right now, and it will stay that way for a while.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is rebuilding East State Street, which is also Route 38, from Glengarry Drive to the Fox River. The $22 million project is expected to be substantially done in late 2027, with punch-list items finished the following year. As of October 2026, that means roughly a year of construction is still ahead. The street will feel different the whole time, and the businesses along it are still open.

Where Things Stand as of Early October

In its October 2 update, the City of Geneva said traffic is still 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. Over the next few weeks, crews will install water services across East State Street from time to time, which can slow traffic in both directions during working hours. Trenching for the water main can also briefly block access to side streets on the south side of the work zone.

Here is where the work is happening, according to the same update:

• Water main work is wrapping up near Nebraska Street. A second crew is putting in fire hydrants, service lines, and water main along the side streets.
• Eastbound roadway excavation should finish near Harrison Street. After that, the excavation and water main crews move east along the highway.
• Archon, working for AT&T, is repairing utility structures near Route 25 and Crissey Avenue.

All of this depends on the weather. Rain had already cost the water main crew a couple of days before the update came out. The City's Notify Me alerts are the most reliable way to keep up with changes week to week.

About 65 Businesses Are Open Behind the Cones

The City counts more than 65 businesses operating in the reconstruction zone. Most are small and locally owned, and the City says they "rely heavily on walk-in customers" to get through each day. Walk-in customers are exactly who a one-lane highway with orange barrels tends to turn away.

The owners who spoke with the Chronicle are steady about it. Parisi called the construction "a necessary evil" and added, "I'm sure it's going to be great, but until then, we're just trying to mitigate things." Jimmy Nicolaou owns two restaurants in the zone. He said business was "a little down, but we are fighting," and like Parisi, he pointed out that you can reach both of his places from Route 25 without going through the construction.

Honeybird stands out. It opened in April, directly across the street from Riganato, while the corridor was already torn up. For a restaurant that has spent almost all of its life inside a work zone, the Route 25 entrance is simply how people get there.

Carl the Cone Is the City's Reminder

If you've driven Route 38 since August, you've probably seen a smiling orange cone on the banners. That's Carl the Cone, the mascot for the City's "Support East State Street" campaign. The Chronicle described him as shaped "nearly in the same shape as the traditional fall candy," with three shopping bags in one hand and a sign in the other that reads "Support East State Businesses." Parisi's take on Carl was "That's cute."

The City set up the Support East State Street page earlier in the summer and put up Carl banners and signs along the corridor in August. Business profiles run on the City's new ExploreGenevaIL channels on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Those profiles are a good place to find businesses in the zone you haven't tried, especially the ones whose storefronts are hard to see from the shifted lanes.

The Geneva Chamber of Commerce has also reminded people that the East State Street businesses are open. It suggests that anyone who can't stop in can still help by sharing a photo of a past meal or purchase, or reposting a business's own posts on Facebook and Instagram.

The River Has a Detour Too

The same "go around" approach applies along the Fox River, for a different reason. A City wastewater project is replacing the 20-inch sanitary sewer pipe that crosses the river with two new 20-inch pipes. That crossing carries all of the sewage from the west side of Geneva to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the upgrade is meant to lower the risk of sewer overflows. The work closed parts of the Fox River Trail on both banks.

Part of the trail is open again. The east-bank section reopened on Thursday, September 24. The stretch just south of the Union Pacific-West railroad has a temporary crushed-gravel surface and is scheduled for a full repair in 2027. The detour through the treatment plant campus came down on Monday, September 28. If you ride a road bike, expect gravel for a short distance.

The west bank is still detoured. Starting the week of September 14, the trail near the Kane County Government Center on Route 31, south of the railroad, closed for about two months, weather permitting. Northbound cyclists and walkers go onto South Third Street, then east on South Street, and rejoin the trail near the pedestrian bridge under the train tracks. People coming over the bridge from the east side take the same route in reverse. It's the same detour used during Union Pacific's Third Main Line project, so longtime trail users may recognize it. A detour map is on the City's website.

The detour runs right past downtown. South Third Street is home to Geneva Wine Cellars & Tasting Room at 227 S. Third St., which reopened on May 8 under new family owners. It now has a tasting-bar setup, 16 wines by the glass, and custom flights. The commuter lot at Fourth and South, just off the detour, hosts the French Market on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through mid-November. For the next several weeks, a Sunday ride on the west bank goes straight by the market.

Fall Dates on Both Sides of the River

The rest of the fall calendar is scheduled, and none of these events sit inside the Route 38 work zone:

• Thriller on 38, Saturday, October 10, starting at 7 p.m., in the parking lot behind Vargo's Dance near Hamilton and Second streets. Expect food trucks, a DJ, and performances at 7:30 and 8 p.m.
• French Market, Sundays through mid-November at the Fourth-and-South commuter lot.
• Holiday House Tour tickets go on sale in mid-October, according to the Geneva Chamber. The tour is December 4 and 5, with five homes open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
• Christmas Walk, Friday, December 4, starting at 6 p.m., with Santa Lucia, Santa Claus, the Great Tree lighting, and downtown merchants.

What Comes After the Cones

When IDOT is done, East State Street will have a shared left-turn lane along the corridor, bike lanes, new sidewalks, new trees, new street lighting, upgraded traffic signals, and new water main and storm drainage underneath. Nicolaou's Riganato has been at 700 E. State St. since 2012, and Honeybird opened mid-construction. Parisi put it plainly when talking about the finished road: "I'm sure it's going to be great." Until then, the City's construction updates list the next stretch of excavation week by week, and the owners say the Route 25 entrances are the way in.

If you own a home near the Route 38 corridor and wonder how the construction and the finished street might affect what it's worth, we're glad to talk it through in English or Spanish, without any pressure. Zamudio Realty Group can prepare a free home valuation based on what's happening on your block right now.