Gov. Sonny Perdue, state Transportation Commissioner Vance Smith and others joined John Porcari, President Barack Obama's deputy secretary of transportation, for the groundbreaking.

The officials presented a bright picture, but behind the scenes, it's more complicated. Negotiations between the state DOT and Perdue's office broke down over power-sharing under a new law. And with accounting troubles battering DOT's road program, its contract spending would be nearly at a standstill if not for the stimulus.

Perdue said he was concerned for Georgia road building - and other areas of state government -once the stimulus runs out.