Gatlinburg, TN (Source:Kyle Grainger, WVLT)

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) -- The Smoky Mountain resort town of Gatlinburg, Tenn., has completed a project that clogged traffic on the main street leading into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The 1,850-foot, $7.8 million job has been going on since last mid-August from the Gatlinburg Convention Center to the boundary of the park. It included the construction of underground duct banks to house electrical, telephone and cable television lines. Water and sewer improvements were also done in the project. Additionally, there are new streetlights and sidewalks.

The latest work was phase six in a $24 million project dating back to the late 1990s.

The road, known locally as "the Parkway," feeds traffic into the national park, which has 9 million visitors a year.