There is just enough room on Route 31, where it joins Route 120 in McHenry, for two lanes in either direction and sidewalks, Public Works Director Russ Adams said.

“The lanes will be slightly narrower ... but there is just enough space for them to have the four lanes and the sidewalks on each side,” Adams said Wednesday during the question and answer portion of Mayor Wayne Jett’s annual State of the City presentation.

It will be tight, Jett agreed.

“When you drive down 31 and about get to about 120, pull your mirrors in,” he joked.

The yearly update on what is going on in McHenry – and what is soon to come – was part of the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon. Held at The Vixen, the event was attended by more than 200 people, who came to hear what is on the city’s, and Jett’s, agenda.

Highlights included updates on the long-anticipated Route 31 widening project, Riverside Drive’s streetscape plans and Jett’s hope for two additional TIF districts to spur additional economic development.

The Route 31 widening is getting underway, with contractors for Illinois Department of Transportation are currently prepping to relocate utilities between Routes 176 and 120.

The actual road construction is set to start in 2028 “and last approximately forever, or two years,” Jett said. “We will say ‘forever’ now so that if it isn’t more than two years, you will be happy.”

The city expects its portion of the project to reach $7.33 million, and $6.6 million has been set aside “to date” to pay that bill, Jett said.

On the opposite side of downtown, the city is preparing to start rebuilding Riverside Drive, including water and sewer service, late this year. The project will start at Weber’s Park and go south, crossing Route 120 and tying into Venice Avenue, which is wrapping up its own reconstruction.

“It is totally an upgrade to Riverside Drive” that will include the possibility of outdoor seating for the restaurants there while making it more pedestrian friendly and the businesses more ADA-accessible and replacing lead water services at no cost to those businesses, Jett said.

“We will work with these businesses ... to make sure this is successful and not hurt the businesses on Riverside Drive” while the work is being done, he said, adding that the whole project should be completed by the end of 2027.

But the big thing – if approved by the McHenry City Council in coming months – is adding two new TIF districts in an effort to spur economic development along Richmond Road and Route 120/Main Street, Jett said.

“We have a supportive council to get this done,” he added. At the Feb. 17 meeting, the council approved moving forward with the next steps to create those districts.

Properties in the two districts “could benefit from the additional development that these new TIFs could provide,” Jett said, pointing to big-box buildings like the former K-Mart.

“Many of these properties have been vacant for years, or even decades,” Jett said. “Along Route 120, there are many commercial businesses operating on small lots in what used to be single family homes.”

A TIF would help those landlords and business owners afford to redevelop or improve their properties, he said, adding, “TIF is one of the only economic development tools municipalities have.”