Before Highland Gets Its ALDI, It Gets a Turn Lane

"Illinois 143 can be busy at various times of the day so, from a public safety perspective, we thought it was responsible to have an alternate way out," City Manager Chris Conrad told the Troy Times Tribune. He was explaining why the city is building a second access road to the new store.

That's a good way to understand Highland's first ALDI. The store is going up west of Scott Credit Union and Walmart, off Illinois 143. It doesn't have a grand-opening date yet. Starting this week, though, the project changes how people get around the Route 143 corridor. Most of what the city has done for this store involves roads. You'll probably sit in its traffic before you ever shop there.

What's Scheduled on Route 143 Starting Today

The contractor for the ALDI site is Shores Builders Inc., based in Centralia. The company is widening State Route 143 between Valentine Lane and Cally Lane to add a left-turn lane into the store. According to the City of Highland's notice, the closures are scheduled to begin Monday, October 12, 2026.

The notice says Northwest Manor stays open on days when no closure is needed. So a closed intersection on Tuesday doesn't mean it'll be closed on Wednesday. The city also tells drivers to expect delays on 143 and to use another route when they can. The Troy Times Tribune's October 9 report makes the same distinction. Route 143 drops to one lane through the work area for the period, while the Northwest Manor closure comes and goes depending on the day's work.

Three weeks from October 12 runs into early November, if the weather cooperates. That lines up with the "late October or early November" completion estimate city officials gave in June.

Why the City's Piece of This Deal Is Pavement

The turn lane on 143 is one of two road projects tied to the store. The second one is the city's. In June, the Times Tribune reported that a new road off Cally Lane, near Walmart and Scott Credit Union, would give the store a second way in. The road is expected to be named Market Street, and the paper called it "the city's primary contribution to the project."

Getting there took some work. The Illinois Department of Transportation had to approve the new road because it sits so close to the state highway. The Times Tribune reported that getting those permissions was a primary hurdle for the project.

The money came from a separate council decision. At its April 6 meeting, the Highland City Council approved the first steps toward issuing bonds. In the Times Tribune's report on that meeting, Conrad said the city planned to borrow roughly $2 million, backed by TIF revenue. That money would pay for Market Street and a separate road for hospital access. UMB was picked as the bond underwriter.

The project started years before the bulldozers. Highland Director of Economic Development Mallord Hubbard told the Times Tribune the city began talking with ALDI in late summer 2024, after the company approached Highland with this site already picked. ALDI picked the spot itself. The city's job was to make sure traffic could get in and out without backing up on 143.

The Store, and the Date Nobody Has Announced

Here's what's been reported about the building. In June, ALDI Regional Vice President Rob Jefferies told the Times Tribune the Highland store would be about 12,000 square feet, ALDI's standard layout. He said the smaller design helps keep prices low. "This new Highland location reflects the growing demand we're seeing from customers in the area," Jefferies told the paper. The same report projected 15 to 20 full-time jobs.

As for opening day, every timeline so far has been a forecast:

1. June 3, 2026. Minutes from Highland's Industrial Development Commission record Hubbard reporting that ALDI was "moving dirt" and expected to finish in "late October or early November."
2. June 18, 2026. The Times Tribune reported that no exact grand-opening date had been announced, and that officials said the store was still on track to open before the end of the year.
3. September 26, 2026. Times Tribune editor Charles Bolinger photographed the site. He wrote that most of the remaining work looked ready to move indoors, with the parking lot paving, landscaping and signage still to come.

None of these is an announced opening date. "Completion" in the June minutes and "open before the end of the year" in the June article are both projections made in early summer. We haven't seen a Highland-specific hiring event or job posting yet. Usually that's one of the first public signs that a store is getting close to opening.

Where It Lands on Highland's Grocery Map

In June, the Times Tribune listed the grocery businesses Highland already has: Walmart, Ruler Foods, Tru-Buy, Highland Nutrition Center and Korte Meat Processing. The same article noted that local shoppers will travel to ALDI stores in Glen Carbon, O'Fallon and Collinsville.

Two of those stores have addresses that matter for this story:

• Walmart Supercenter, 12495 State Route 143. It's on the same highway as the new store, and ALDI is going up just to its west.
• Tru-Buy, 610 Broadway. In December 2025, the Herald Publications reported that Betty Ann Market owner Craig Norrenberns had bought the store and that it was still operating.

Look at where the new store sits. It's on Route 143, right next to the town's Supercenter and Scott Credit Union. Two big grocery stores sharing one corridor helps explain why the city wanted a second way out onto Cally Lane and IDOT wanted a turn lane on the highway. When Conrad said 143 "can be busy at various times of the day," he was describing this stretch of road.

The Calendar the Store Could Open Into

If the late-October-or-early-November estimate holds, the store would open as Highland's holiday season gets going. Most of those events happen away from Route 143, which matters for anyone planning a route around the work zone.

• Saturday, October 31, noon to 5 p.m. The Parks and Recreation Halloween Candy Trail at Glik Park includes trick-or-treating at local businesses and a pumpkin-carving contest. The winner is announced at 4:30 p.m. It's on a Saturday, and the city's notice says Northwest Manor stays open on weekends.
• Friday, November 27, 6:30 p.m. The Highland Chamber's Lighted Christmas Parade has the theme "Star Spangled Christmas" and is sponsored by Highland Machine. It starts at Poplar Street and Lindenthal Avenue, goes west on Lindenthal and north on Washington, and finishes at the Downtown Square for the lighting ceremony.
• Saturday, December 5, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Chamber's Cookie Crumb Trail hands out maps and bags at Kloss Furniture starting at 10 a.m.
• Friday, December 11. The Chamber lists its Holiday Happy Hour for this date. No venue or start time has been posted yet.

The parade route runs along Lindenthal, Washington and the Square, so none of these events uses the stretch of 143 between Valentine and Cally Lanes. For the next few weeks, the turn-lane work between Valentine and Cally Lanes is the main reason to leave extra time on 143. You can check the City of Highland's news page for updates.

At The Kehrer Team, we keep up with changes like this new store, its new road and the turn lane on 143 because they change how Highland neighborhoods work day to day. If you're wondering how new commercial development along Route 143 might affect a home you own or one you're considering in Highland, give us a call, or start with a property valuation. We'll tell you what we're seeing.