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Borough Mayor Bruce Ryder, who served as volunteer project coordinator, credited the $8.3 million project to "a cast of thousands."
During an 8 a.m. ceremony, 22 key members of that cast helped to cut a ribbon stretching across the 40-foot-wide road.
Mike Lapano of the state Department of Transportation called the bypass a "model public/private partnership" of PennDOT, the municipalities and the landowners involved.
Route 896 now bears east off Decatur Street and onto Historic Drive, which has been extended to cross Fairview and Gap roads. The new road connects with Georgetown Road, just west of Bishop Road in Strasburg Township.
How will the bypass help the area?
"The narrow streets and intersections of Strasburg were increasingly clogged by high volumes of vehicle traffic, including commercial trucks, shore travelers, commuters and visitors," borough manager Lisa Boyd explained.
"With the opening of the relocated Route 896," she continued, "those pass-through vehicles, which previously were funneled onto East Main Street and North Decatur Street, can now smoothly proceed around Strasburg without backing up the borough's streets."
Contractor Pennsy Supply of Hummelstown began work in October 2008 to create the road.
State Sen. Lloyd Smucker said the bypass will relieve congestion, but not cut off circulation to the heart of the borough. Smucker credited his predecessor, Gibson E. Armstrong, who worked to make the project happen.
Brothers B.C. and N.C. Desai, owners of the Historic Strasburg Inn, were happy about the opening. B.C. called the 2009 season "a disaster" because hotel guests would often get lost taking the construction detour, then become angry.
"This road is super," B.C. Desai said standing on the new bypass. "It is going to help out a lot."
Costs included $2,110,932 for engineering, legal costs and rights-of-way acquisition, and $6,150,000 for construction, borough manager Lisa Boyd said.
Paying the tab, Boyd said, were Strasburg Borough, Strasburg Township, the state Department of Community and Economic Development, Lancaster County grants, developers' contributions and PennDOT.
