While speaking during a public address this week, new DeKalb County Administrator Kedzior said the county is investing tens of millions of dollars into the Peace and Plank roads corridor.

“From 2019 to the mid-’30s, when we get this project finished, the county is going to invest about $35 million into the Peace and Plank road corridor,” Kedzior said during the Sycamore Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Community event.

She discussed where the county’s highway department is currently focusing its energy and future efforts on Peace and Plank roads.

The stretch of road she focused on ferries travelers into and around Sycamore, while serving as a fast-moving roadway for northern DeKalb County drivers. In recent years, the county has taken steps to expand Peace Road.

Kedzior mentioned the construction for the bridge replacement and lane expansion of Peace Road, south of Freed Road – that project broke ground 13 months ago on April 7, 2025, – and said the next phase is already in the works.

“Construction is going to start in the next five years, depending on funding availability,” Kedzior said. “And we’ll include new traffic signals on Freed Road.”

On Sept. 17, 2025, the DeKalb County Board approved a contract up to $957,601 with HR Green Inc., of Aurora, for engineering for a future plan to expand Peace Road. That five-lane expansion, just like what’s currently under construction, would extend from Freed Road to Route 23, or Main Street.

In September, DeKalb County Engineer Nathan Schwartz said the next phase of the Peace Road widening project isn’t expected to begin until 2028.

The DeKalb County Highway Department, run by Schwartz, has considered a $3 million roundabout for the intersection of Plank, Lindgren and North Grove roads. But that’s not all the county is looking into regarding the Peace and Plank roads corridor. A realignment of about a 3-mile stretch of Plank Road has been in the first phase of development for years.

In November 2024, Schwartz said a realignment of Plank Road away from Moose Range could cost an estimated $12-$15 million. He also said construction on the project wasn’t likely until 2031.