Solution for Millburn Strangler nearing
Unlike another high-profile project long identified as a way to improve travel through Lake County, relocating Route 45 to untangle the "Millburn Strangler" at Grass Lake Road finally is going somewhere.
"It's similar to (Route) 53 but at least this time we're at the tail end of the project," said Chuck Gleason, project manager with the Lake County Division of Transporation. "It's going to happen."
Although it is a state road, the county six years ago allocated $34 million to build a 7,200-foot, four-lane bypass west of the existing Route 45 from Country Place to north of Independence Boulevard in Lindenhurst.
Work also calls for the realignment of Grass Lake and Millburn roads, bike paths, sidewalks, landscaping, detention ponds and other details.
Land acquisition is nearly complete and agreements between the state and local agencies are being inked.
The Illinois Department of Transportation this fall is expected to seek construction bids, contingent on the completion of land acquisition and approval of agreements with all local agencies, according to spokeswoman Gianna Urgo.
To date, 29 of 31 parcels have been acquired and negotiations regarding the remaining two continue, she added. Construction is expected to begin next spring.
"People now are interested in when it's going to get done and how fast," said Lake County Board member Tom Weber, whose district includes the project area.
Bottlenecks on Route 45 between signals at the closely spaced Millburn Road and Grass Lake Road intersections in Old Mill Creek have snarled traffic for decades.
With McDonald Woods Forest Preserve and two Lindenhurst subdivisions to the west and the Millburn Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to the east, the location of the bypass became a hot issue.
However, the din faded once the western route was chosen. While some residents remain irked, most will be happy when the project is finished, Weber predicted.
"I think the majority of people want to get the traffic situation alleviated," he said. "Actually, I get more calls on 53."
The Lake County Forest Preserve District board on Tuesday is expected to approve an agreement for construction of a nearly milelong segment of the Millennium Trail and the transfer of 13 acres of the McDonald Woods Forest Preserve as part of the bypass project.
IDOT will be building a shared-use path on the west side of the relocated Route 45 and a sidewalk on the east side. The portion from McDonald Woods north to Independence Boulevard will become an extension of the Millennium Trail, a planned 41-mile corridor to connect central, western and northern Lake County.
"That is a huge effort," said Randy Seebach, director of planning and land preservation for the forest preserve district. "We're on the last few miles of the Millennium Trail."
A short section of the path also will be extended on the south side of Grass Lake Road to a recently completed underpass.
The district considered granting an easement to IDOT for the 13 acres of McDonald Woods that will be sliced off for the bypass, but chose to sell it due to maintenance and access concerns, Seebach said. IDOT has agreed to pay fair market value but the price hasn't been negotiated, he added.
The county in late 2011 appropriated $34 million from a special regional sales tax to fund the project.
IDOT in 1995 identified a western bypass as the answer, but nothing happened until 2009, when Lake County determined the project was a priority and a new study process began.
Eighteen bypass choices were narrowed to three - one east and two west of existing Route 45.
A committee of county, state and federal officials selected a western path in part because it avoided the historic district and unmarked graves and had the greatest potential for trail connections.