Under Ogden Avenue near Washington Street, crews have been pulling out a cast-iron water main that went into the ground in the 1950s and 1960s. It's being replaced with a new 16-inch main, and the valves, hydrants and service connections along the route are being upgraded too. Construction started in spring 2025. It paused for fall and winter, came back the week of May 18, 2026, and has kept lanes shifting on that stretch of Ogden ever since.
That phase is scheduled to wrap up this month. For anyone in Columbia Estates and the rest of Naperville's north side who drives Ogden, the coming winter looks like a pause between projects. Both of the corridor's next changes, the second phase of the water main and the opening of a new grocery store at Iroquois Center, are on 2027 calendars.
What finishes this month
Phase one covers Ogden Avenue from Washington Street to Wright Street and Washington Street from Ogden Avenue to Bauer Road. Joshua Strait, the city's engineering manager of water utilities, told NCTV17 that this part of the project will be done Nov. 13.
The city's own project page has a slightly later date. Naper Today reported that the city's project page, last updated Oct. 8, listed completion by the end of November. Lane changes could therefore end in mid-November or run until the end of the month. Either way, phase one should be finished before winter weather sets in.
Until then, the work schedule is the same as it has been. According to the city, crews work Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and sometimes stay until 5 p.m. Weekend trips along this part of Ogden have been the easier ones all season, and that holds for the last stretch of the job.
The stretch west of Washington waits on a state permit
Phase two picks up at the Washington and Ogden intersection and runs the new main west to about 1,000 feet past Mill Street. That puts it on the part of Ogden between Washington Street and Naperville North High School.
The dates for this phase have already moved once. In its May announcement, the city said phase two was scheduled to begin in early summer, depending on weather and on the timeline holding. The city then updated its project page on July 16 to confirm the postponement, and phase two is now set for 2027. The reason given was permitting from the Illinois Department of Transportation, along with other factors.
The money and planning are already approved. At its March 18 meeting, the Naperville City Council approved engineering contracts for both phases with Ciorba Group. One was a change order that brought the phase one engineering contract to $702,575. The other was a separate phase two engineering contract capped at $394,428. The next phase is already designed and funded. The state permit is the main thing deciding when work starts.
The two phases also look alike in timing. Phase one began in spring 2025, stopped for the cold months and picked back up in May. Phase two is set for 2027, so the quiet stretch on Ogden starting this month lasts until the 2027 construction season.
A grocery store on a 2027 timeline
Ogden's other 2027 change is a new grocery store. MOM's Organic Market has signed a lease at 1163 E. Ogden Ave., the address for Iroquois Center at the northwest corner of Ogden and Iroquois Avenue.
The company's own target for Naperville has been 2027 since it announced the lease. When MOM's announced the Naperville lease and a second one in Mount Prospect in its January 21 press release, it called them its first Chicago-area locations. The release said Mount Prospect would open in 2026 and Naperville in 2027. In mid-October, NCTV17's roundup of new Naperville businesses gave the Ogden store a spring 2027 opening.
MOM's isn't a familiar name around here. Scott Nash started the business in 1987 in his mother's garage as a home grocery delivery service, and it moved into a walk-in store in 1990. It now has 27 stores, all in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Nash told NCTV17 that the company takes pride in giving shoppers a lower-stress experience:
"A relaxing environment, and just high levels of considerate customer service."
What the store says it will offer
MOM's press release and Nash's interview describe a store that does more than sell groceries. According to the company, the Iroquois Center store would offer:
- Produce that is all organic. Every MOM's carries only 100% organic produce. In the NCTV17 interview, Nash said shoppers "don't have to go and try and find the organic stuff."
- Products from local vendors. Each new location carries products from local vendors, and Nash said the Naperville store will keep doing that.
- A recycling center that takes more than bottles and cans. The company lists cell phones, tablets, eyeglasses and corks among the items it accepts.
- Seasonal recycling drives. MOM's runs denim recycling drives and holiday light recycling drives at its stores.
- Work with local environmental groups. New stores partner with community environmental organizations to help clean up neighborhood waterways. Nash said the company will sponsor those groups and run education efforts about the environment.
The recycling drives are the most practical item here. A holiday light drop-off would give households on the north side a place to take old light strings near Ogden. With a spring 2027 opening, though, the first holiday season it could cover is the 2027 one.
What is already open close by
Not everything new near Ogden is waiting on 2027. Aloha Acai Bowls, a soft-serve açaí shop, opened in August at 1012 N. Washington St., Suite 100. It's listed in the same NCTV17 roundup that gave MOM's spring 2027 date. The roundup groups both of them with the new businesses in Naperville's northeast.
The corridor calendar from here
Here's the order of events for the Ogden Avenue changes, using the dates the city and the businesses have published:
- Nov. 13, 2026. The city engineering manager's target for finishing phase one on Ogden between Washington and Wright and on Washington between Ogden and Bauer.
- End of November 2026. The finish date on the city's project page as of its Oct. 8 update.
- Spring 2027. MOM's Organic Market's target opening at Iroquois Center, 1163 E. Ogden Ave.
- 2027. Phase two of the water main, running Ogden from Washington to about 1,000 feet past Mill Street, depending on IDOT permitting.
Phase two was first scheduled to start in early summer 2026 and moved to 2027 after the IDOT permitting delay.
If you're timing a sale, a purchase or a spring listing around changes on the Ogden corridor, Bill White Homes can help you plan around the dates that are set and the ones that aren't. Get in touch whenever you'd like to talk it through.
