FLOYD COUNTY, Ky (WSAZ) – A ribbon cutting was held Monday in Floyd County, Kentucky, for a new stretch of KY-122 near South Floyd High School.

High School Principal Joe Marson knows just how important the new road is.

“The greatest benefit to us is student safety,” Marson said. “We've got a lot of kids that travel that road: Either student drivers or transportation buses. And anything that improves student safety is a tremendous benefit to South Floyd High School and the community.”

It’s only a couple mile stretch of road over Meade Hill, but everyone around here knows someone who’s had an accident there.

“I have knowledge of one of those and it was a fatality unfortunately,” Marson said. “It was a beloved member of the community.”

When $7.5 million in state funding finally became available, the project moved forward… 14 years after it was first conceived. The road was moved from the top of the hill to the bottom. It now follows an old rail line.

There are some big benefits for those who live on the old section of road as well. They blasted through a big rock to do away with a 90 degree curve that had been the site of several serious accidents. That project had to be finished before the new road could go through.

“It was very steep terrain below that area,” Chief District Engineer Mary Westfall-Holbrook said. “So we had to move the mountain back at the top of the hill. Move the water line and push the mountain back before we could get on the steep area below it. “

14 years of waiting. Two years of hard work. And now, a much safer trip for hundreds of people every day.

“If this prevents one accident-- one fatality-- then certainly that's a blessing,” Marson said.

The road has actually been open for a month or so. Today was the official opening and ribbon cutting with local leaders and lawmakers who secured the funding for the project.