BELDEN, Miss. (WTVA) -- A promise is a promise.
State and local officials say they promised Toyota a new highway and they gave it to them.
It was just over one year ago that officials were in Belden breaking ground on this project. Now, it's complete, under budget and well ahead of schedule.
The project began in July 2011.
The project consists of ten bridges and one interchange.
It took 170,000 tons of asphalt and seven million cubic yards of earthwork to make it happen.
All that five months ahead of schedule and for around $90 million, that's $10 million less than the original estimate.
The design-build concept is not often used in Mississippi.
There needs to be a reason for it.
"Certainly, design-build has it's place and every situation is a little different. Its depends on the environmental situation for which you're trying to build a project. It depends on your time frame. If you're trying to accommodate a manufacturer like in this case," Northern District Highway Commissioner Mike Tagert said.
"We made a promise to Toyota that if they would believe in us and go ahead and move forward with the plan that we would make the commitment for Highway 9 and so people from all over the state helped us keep this promise. That means a lot the next time we go out recruiting," U.S. Senator Roger Wicker said.
"We told Toyota if they would come, we promised them we would upgrade this road and we're fulfilling that promise today," Governor Bryant said.
Governor Phil Bryant believes the new road will do more than make cut drive time for Toyota and others.
"We think you'll see ten miles of development and then when the suppliers come, then restaurants have to come and before you know it, a new hotel is opening up. This is the backbone for a new economic development system for northeast Mississippi," Governor Bryant added.
Governor Bryant predicts Highway 9 will save lives, change lives and offer up a world of opportunity.
