Millburn Strangler officially vanquished

Construction workers, state, local and county officials, and others gathered Wednesday to mark the completion of a long-sought project to ease congestion in north-central Lake County.

"The Strangler is gone," Lindenhurst Mayor Dominic Marturano said of the notorious choke point at Route 45 and Grass Lake Road that had been known the Millburn Strangler. "It's been part of our daily lives for what seems like forever."

The solution is a four-lane, 7,200-foot bypass west of the Millburn Historic District between Country Place to just north of Independence Boulevard in Old Mill Creek and Lindenhurst.

Grass Lake and Milburn roads were realigned and connected at a single intersection and a number of other amenities installed as part of the $31 million project.

Traffic along the bypass began flowing about three weeks ago.

Linda Pedersen, a Lake County Board member from Antioch, recalled being stuck for four or five signals during frustrating commutes.

"Not at red lights. Green lights," she said. "It's a wonderful project, and I'm glad I'm still here to see it."

The county board in 1994 passed a resolution supporting a bypass. But it wasn't until 2011 that the county appropriated the funding from a special regional sales tax to jump-start the stalled project.

"They had the Millburn Strangler at the top of their list," Pedersen said. "Even though it was a state project, they saw the importance of seeing this project come to fruition."