Marengo’s city administrator asks longtime residents to remember what Randall Road looked like in 2000, when Jacobs High School and a filling station were just about the only things there.

Now the arterial road’s businesses, restaurants and shopping centers are an economic driver for Kane and McHenry counties.

That, City Administrator Derik Morefield said, is what Route 23 between Interstate 90 and Marengo could look like in another 20 years.

“This is the next opportunity” for growth along the I-90 corridor, Morefield said. “It is pure, available open space.”

Marengo got one mile closer to that future this week. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity approved a $4.6 million grant to continue extending water and sewer infrastructure to the interchange at Interstate 90 and Route 23. It could be finished in late 2028, Morefield said.

“That interchange is super important to the tax base and future growth,” Morefield said.

The latest grant is expected to fund the last of the 3-mile project that gets city water and sewer to the open land along Route 23. Acreage along the road has already been annexed into Marengo, with plans for continued swaths added to the city over time.

This potential future all started when the Illinois Department of Transportation put a full interchange in. Opened in 2019, the I-90/Route 23 interchange is the only interstate access point in McHenry County.

That’s where Marengo comes in – first with $27 million in state grants and a $750,000 loan approved by the McHenry County Board to improve city water and sewer systems and beginning to extend lines toward the interstate. The first section got as far as the Unilock manufacturing building, Morefield said.

The second mile was funded by another $3.5 million state grant and got Marengo to Anthony Road.

The latest grant will fund the last section, about ¾ of a mile, and a new Marengo water tower near the interstate.

Without the state grants or development agreements in hand, Marengo would never have the money to put the lines in, Morefield said.

“We would have to figure out how to run 3 miles to get down to that interchange,” he said.

The state is betting on the idea that if the infrastructure is there, development will follow.

“It is an economic development tool to spur growth along the Route 23 corridor,” Morefield said.

That is what officials from the Regional Site Readiness Program – part of the state’s commerce and opportunity department – said in its news release announcing the grants.

“Economic development happens with thoughtful long-term planning and considerable investment in new roads, water, sewer and other infrastructure, creating shovel-ready sites for industry,” said Michael Dunn, Region 1 Planning Council executive director.

It also means that in another 20 years, Marengo could look like Huntley does now, Morefield said.

“The state saw the potential,” he said. “Marengo is the nearest municipality and [the City Council] had the foresight to annex to the intersection.”

The extension has not been without tension; it’s been a focal point of past Marengo mayoral races.

The project also could benefit the entire county, said Mark Piekos, executive director of McHenry County Economic Development Corporation.

“These investments give us [the] opportunity to build on McHenry County’s strong industrial base and compete for the kind of projects that create lasting jobs,” Piekos said in a news release.

Current residents should also benefit, according to a post on Wednesday on Marengo’s Facebook page.

“We aren’t just moving dirt for the sake of it. This is about the long-term health of our town,” the post said, pointing to tax relief with industries paying more of the bill, additional local jobs and improved infrastructure.

“We’re in the home stretch of a very long project, and for the first time, the finish line is actually in sight. Thank you for your patience with the construction crews. We are building a more stable, affordable future for Marengo,” the post said.