 The first leg of the South Beltline Freeway , located between M @-@ 37 ( Broadmoor Avenue ) and I @-@ 96 , was finished six months early . Dry summer weather allowed the roadbed contractors to finish their portion of the five @-@ mile ( 8 @.@ 0 km ) section of the freeway early , earning them a $ 300 @,@ 000 bonus ( equivalent to $ <unk> @,@ 000 in 2015 ) . The overpasses for the remaining sections of the freeway were completed while the first phase was under construction , leaving the interchanges at US 131 and I @-@ 196 and the connecting roadbed to be completed at that time . The first section was paved in asphalt after MDOT reversed the decision to pave the whole freeway in concrete . That stretch of freeway opened to traffic on November 20 , 2001 . The state kept the overall project in an accelerated status headed into the next phases in 2002 . 
