 MDOT hired a new consultant , <unk> / <unk> Associates , in 1984 to study the proposed freeway . The consultant recommended the freeway in March 1985 . The South Beltline was included in the ten @-@ year highway plan in 1986 . By 1989 , the state wanted to set the route in 1991 with construction starting in 1993 . The freeway was studied as a possible toll road in June 1991 after three alternative routes were proposed the previous year . That September , the final route was set with a projected start date in 1997 . The toll road concept was revived in September 1995 to offset the failure of a proposed gas tax increase . As a cost @-@ saving measure , the number of interchanges was reduced to four from eight in June 1996 . When a gas tax increase was passed in 1997 , Governor John Engler promised at least seven access points for the freeway . The South Beltline was <unk> as " [ cutting ] travel time around Grand Rapids virtually in half " . 
