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After years of cajoling local, state and federal lawmakers, residents along the 3.2-mile Keystone Drive can almost see the pavement being laid.

That proverbial light at the end of the tunnel was recognized Tuesday at a groundbreaking ceremony at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Day Park approximately 4.5 miles from the Sterling Highway.

Will and Jane Madison, Keystone Drive residents who are the co-chairs of the Keystone Steering Committee that has battled for almost seven years to bring the project to this point, said Monday they and many of their neighbors are delighted, even ecstatic. Citizens, along with local, state and federal lawmakers and agencies were successful at accumulating what has turned out to be more money than will be needed to complete reconstruction and paving, they said.

"We worked for so long and the price tag kept going up," Jane Madison said. "We were continuously told we didn't have enough money."

According to the Madisons, residents and property owners along the road were patient and persistent over the past six and a half years, during which they spent hundreds of hours attending meetings, sometimes traveling as far as Washington, D.C., to talk with local, state and federal representatives about the need to reconstruct the dirt road.

Keystone was a quiet riverside dirt road in the early 1990s when the federal and state governments proposed adding public fishing walkways and day parks. While the facilities were welcomed, residents raised concern that the road, which was not well built to begin with, would be unable to withstand the additional traffic.

Today, the road serves 170 properties (about half have full-time residents), six federal properties, including the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, two public boat launches, and an Agrium employee recreation area.

Winter traffic averages about 200 vehicles a day. But in summer, that number jumps considerably, hitting 2,000 a day during the peak of the salmon season.

The poor road, built over several years by various contractors, is prone to flooding and suffers especially during breakup. Dust raised by traffic is often choking, and calcium chloride spread by the borough to control it ends up in the Kenai River after rainfalls, residents say.

The narrow road has no ditches and utility poles and brush are very near driving lanes, making passing in winter hazardous, and creating unsafe conditions for drivers, bikers and pedestrians.

Heavy traffic, the Madisons said, quickly opens potholes and turns the road into a washboard. The rough road conditions sometimes cause empty boat trailers to bounce around, making driving in the opposite lane dangerous. The 25-mph speed limit is often ignored. The road is costly to maintain.

And all of that is directly related to state and federal decisions to add recreational sites at the end of the road.

The Madisons said the fact the project has reached this point and should be completed by next fall is a kind of testimony to cooperation between state and federal agencies and lawmakers being alerted to a problem, recognizing their responsibilities, and working with residents and the borough government see it solved.

But they also noted that if the state and federal governments hadn't caused the problem and built facilities along the road, the project likely would not have drawn the attention and funds it did.

"We had a combination of both," Jane Madison said. "Therefore, they (state and federal lawmakers) could justify to all their constituents why funding came to this road project."

Judging from the rising cost of road projects generally in recent years, the Madisons knew the Keystone Drive job could be exceptionally pricey. But when the bids came in, they found they'd managed to have more funds earmarked for the project than the project will require.

The project is expected to cost around $4.5 million, said Gary Walklin, with the Alaska Department of Transportation.

"We got a very low bid," he said. "I'm sure we will hold on to the (excess) money until the project is completed" to cover unexpected contingencies.

The job has already begun. Wasilla-based Wolverine Supply Inc. is the contractor and is already busy doing survey work and putting in some erosion control measures, Walklin said. Clearing should start toward the end of the week.

Even thought the Keystone Drive is a borough road, the state is overseeing construction because the project is being done with state and federal dollars. Once the project is complete, the borough will assume full responsibility for maintenance.