GRAYSON COUNTY, TX -- It's been years in the planning. On Tuesday a major thoroughfare running from Dallas to Grayson County was completed and opened for travel. Josh Stevenson was there as the first driver pulled onto the new State Highway 289 Extension today.

Despite the snowy conditions the State Highway 289 extension, was opened to traffic late Tuesday afternoon, and we were there to bring you the first look at the new roadway.

Grayson County Precinct 4 Commissioner Gene Short says the new 289 is a go.

"I received a letter from TX-DOT that the road was substantially complete and that we could open the road to traffic," Short said.

As crews took down the last barricades, the first cars to travel on an officially open State Highway 289 Extension made their way north into Pottsboro.

The project, which has been in the works for at least a decade, is finished for the most part, and Commissioner Gene Short wasted no time getting the road open.

"We will have a more formal ceremony in mid January," he said.

The 289 Extension was paid for with a bond and built by Grayson County, but Commissioner Short says that TX-DOT played an important role in getting the highway built.

"This is not your typical TX-DOT project. It is a bit unusual, but they were a great help to us to develop this project," TX-DOT engineer Noel Paramanantham says

Paramanantham says the extension should relieve congestion on other north/south roadways.

"Now we have an alternate route to U.S. 75, and that is going to relieve some of the congestion."

Although the road is now open to traffic there is still more work to do, to get the finishing touches put on the new roadway.

"There is still going to be some construction personnel on the road doing work off of the main lane, so we need to drive carefully and watch out for those guys," Paramanantham says.

If you plan on traveling the new road once the weather clears up, there are a few intersections to watch out for. At 289 and FM 120, the FM 120 traffic must yield to vehicles on 289. At FM 996 the same rules apply; traffic on Highway 289 has the right of way.