‘In limbo’: Woodstock leaders talk next steps on Route 47 work after yearlong delay announced

The long-awaited widening of Route 47 between Routes 14 and 120 in Woodstock is no longer scheduled to start this year. But although the project has been a source of frustration at times, the city seems optimistic about finding ways to cover its share of the cost.

However, some on the Woodstock City Council also have been frustrated with the city’s efforts involving communication about the project, which state officials recently announced would not start until spring 2026 at the earliest. The work was supposed to begin this year, and extensive prep work already has been done.

On Tuesday – the first City Council meeting since the delay was announced – newly elected member Gregg Hanson said there are business owners along the corridor who “feel like they’re in limbo and they’re not the getting the kinds of information” they need.

Hanson, who owns a business downtown, mentioned Route 47 business owners during a wider discussion about transparency and how the city can get information out to people. Council member Melissa McMahon said the city linking from Facebook to its Route 47 website – woodstockil.gov/316/Route-47-Expansion – would probably work, and said she didn’t know the website existed.

Mayor Mike Turner, who talked about the city’s Route 47 webpage and efforts to keep people informed about the project, spoke about his recent meeting with Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Gia Biagi regarding the Route 47 project.

The mayor said he spent $40 to boost a related post on Facebook, and it got about 3,000 views. Turner said he had an audience of Woodstock residents interested in politics.

Turner said Tuesday that he, City Manager Roscoe Stelford, state Rep. Steve Reick, state Sen. Craig Wilcox and other state officials met with Biagi last week about the roadwork project.

Turner said Biagi knows the project’s importance to Woodstock. The mayor mentioned the city’s cost for the roadwork had ballooned, but he appeared confident that the city’s share wouldn’t ultimately exceed the $16 million it already has agreed to contribute.

Woodstock still is figuring out where that money will come from, although Turner said Biagi mentioned some ideas for additional funding, including a capital program that could provide the city up to $10 million without a required match.

“We feel cautiously optimistic about being able to hit the max amount on that,” Turner said, adding that the city has IDOT and Biagi’s attention.

Officials have projected that the city would have to borrow $11 million in a worst-case scenario.

Woodstock recently received about $2.5 million in Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant dollars for streetscape work related to the road widening.

The state allocated part of its share of the Route 47 project in the recently passed state budget, the mayor said, adding that the city thinks the state is paying half this year and half next year.

Woodstock is separately intending to issue about $21.5 million in bonds for capital projects in town, including its streets program and rec center, but none of that money is earmarked for the Route 47 project.

The mayor claimed that no project was more shovel-ready than the Route 47 widening, saying, “It is ready to go.”