Source: http://www.annistonstar.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Officials+turn+dirt+on+final+parkway+phase%20&id=3974269-Officials+turn+dirt+on+final+parkway+phase&instance=home_lead_story

A shovel wasn't big enough to break ground Tuesday on the last section of the Eastern Parkway.

So Gov. Bob Riley hitched his slacks over black alligator cowboy boots, climbed on a bulldozer and plowed through a pile of red mud, marking the beginning of a much-anticipated road project.

"They say good things happen to people who wait," Riley said. "Well, we've waited long enough, and it's time to finish this."

The Eastern Parkway, which will connect Interstate 20 at Golden Springs with McClellan and Alabama 21, has been under construction for about 10 years. Local leaders had struggled with finding a funding source for its completion, leaving some to wonder whether they'd ever drive its whole length.

That all changed earlier this year when state leaders set aside federal stimulus money for the final portion of the project. Riley said using stimulus money to finish the parkway was an easy choice.

"We now have the ability to develop Fort McClellan, and there are already people who are becoming very fascinated with the possibilities," he said.

Although Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, called Tuesday's groundbreaking exciting, he said the real work is only beginning. Rogers said now that leaders can stop trying to finish the road, they must prepare for the day it opens.

"We've got to make sure we're ready for the kind of economic development this road can guarantee," he said.

Local leaders have long called the Eastern Parkway the key to McClellan success. They say being able to bypass Quintard Avenue and its traffic and stop lights is attractive to developers.

Anthony Humphries, vice-chairman of the McClellan Development Authority, said the group is ready to see the Eastern Parkway completed.

"Quite frankly, we won't have any excuses a year or two down the road why we're not developing McClellan," Humphries said.

Crews are paving another section of the Eastern Parkway right now. That section will intersect with an industrial access road running through McClellan. The access road will run from the parkway to Pappy Dunn Boulevard via Iron Mountain Road. Those roads could be ready by next summer, officials said.

State Transportation Department officials said the entire parkway is scheduled to open within three to three and a half years from now.

Riley said the views along the parkway alone should be enough to lure businesses. The new road slices through a mountain and on Tuesday fall colors were just beginning to show on the trees.

"This is going to be one of the most attractive parkways you find anywhere in Alabama, if not the nation," he said. "If you were going to do business, why not come here?"