It was quite the occasion. An endless list of South Fulton civic and political leaders, residents and guests took their places at the intersection of Rivertown Road and South Fulton Parkway June 29 for the grand opening of the South Fulton Parkway. Also attending were family members of decades-long parkway advocate, Bill Melear, who was honored during the ceremony and again after the ribbon cutting that opened the parkway. A sign marking the Bill Melear Parkway was unveiled along the roadway at the end of the ceremony.

The ceremony marked the completion of phase 5 of the 20-mile parkway, extending the four-lane portion of the highway from Rivertown Road to Cochran Mill Road. Already four lanes from I-285 to Rivertown Road, the completion of the $4.9 million phase 5 that began in 2003 extends those four lanes even further toward Douglas County.

Playing off Commissioner Bill Edwards constant mantra that “Good things are happening in South Fulton,” Cliftondale Community’s Bruce Moody told the large audience that “great things are now happening.” Smiling in response, Edwards later said South Fulton is a jewel and we are not going to give it away. Edwards and others thanked the family of Bill Melear for attending, noting Melear’s unrelenting insistence that the parkway be built. That accomplishment, reflective of Edwards’ statement, does not come without other realizations inherent in the political and development landscape that now exists in metro Atlanta.

“We promised we would protect the parkway,” said South Fulton Concerned Citizens’ Sandra Hardy. “And that promise will continue.”

More of the parkway’s history was provided by Palmetto Mayor Clark Boddie and Fairburn Mayor Betty Hannah.

“It used to be referred to as the road to nowhere. Now it’s the road to everywhere,” Boddie said.

Even for those unfamiliar with the area or the parkway’s history, it was obvious that the occasion was significant. Fulton County Fire Department Color Guard set the tone for other speakers, including Fulton County Commissioner Rob Pitts, Georgia Dept. of Transportation’s Angela Parker, Bill Davenport with South Fulton Parkway Alliance, Chattahoochee Hills’ Steve Nygren and South Fulton Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leslie Hamrick.

“This opens the highway to prosperity and development,” said Pastor Warren Henry, Fulton County Chaplain.

The plan to construct the South Fulton Parkway was adopted in 1979 by Atlanta Regional Commission as a part of the 1975 Regional Development Plan to guide the growth of South Fulton. Constructed in five phases beginning in 1989, the project had a total cost of $44.5 million. The parkway continues past Cochran Mill Road as a two-lane highway, entering douglas County at the Chattahoochee River.

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