McHenry County to expand broadband to rural, underserved communities through new initiative

High-speed broadband internet may be coming soon to McHenry County’s rural and underserved areas after officials announced Friday a new initiative geared toward expanding the county’s current fiber network.

The new initiative, called McHenry County Connects, is aimed at providing both residents and businesses with access to high-speed broadband internet, according to a news release from the county.

As part of this, the county put out requests to internet service providers who might be interested in helping expand the network needed, the county said in the release. Those providers have until April 4 to submit their interest.

The lockdowns related to COVID-19 “laid bare” the need for high-speed internet as students and adults found themselves working remotely from home, sometimes without reliable service, County Board Chairman Mike Buehler, R-Crystal Lake, said in a statement.

“Federal COVID-19 relief funding presents us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity … to take advantage of this and make this vital infrastructure need happen,” Buehler said.

The county is eying two spots for potential expansion. The first is a ring looping west to connect Harvard, Marengo, Union and the new Interstate 90 and Route 23 interchange, according to the release. The second is a northeast expansion through Hebron, Richmond and Spring Grove.

To pull off the projects, officials said they will “aggressively” seek funding for the expansion through the $350 million Illinois has allocated for broadband projects. That money is federal funding comes from the COVID-19 recovery package and the infrastructure deal, both of which were approved in 2021.

During a Feb. 28 roundtable at the county’s administrative building involving several state officials and representatives, as well as members of the McHenry County Board, the issue of internet service in the area came up. County officials expressed an interest in expanding broadband in the area using federal dollars and building off previous efforts.

Dating back to 2013, the county has partnered with McHenry County College, Woodstock School District 200, the city of Woodstock and the county’s Emergency Telephone System Board to create the McHenry Broadband Fiber Network Consortium, according to the release.

The consortium’s work includes a $2.1 million project to lay fiber-optic cable up routes 14 and 47, which were aimed at connecting the sites of those involved with the group, officials said. It also provided residents and private businesses the chance to hook into the network.

Expanding the network to both rural and traditionally underserved communities will “reap benefits for everyone,” Buehler said.

“Infrastructure is more than roads, bridges and highways,” Buehler said in the release. “High-speed Internet is paramount to economic development, education, health care and so many aspects of our lives.”