Local officials said initially they thought the Alcoa Parkway/bypass could be built at a lower cost than improving the existing Alcoa Highway corridor, which at that time in 1998 was estimated at $50 million.

The estimated cost of the proposed Alcoa Parkway/bypass has been quoted as anywhere from $64 million to over $100 million.

Any way you look at it, it's a lot of money at a time when the economy is still struggling and local, state, and federal governments are slashing budgets and cutting spending wherever they can.

And just how reliable are these cost estimates, anyway?

An alert reader estimates that the asphalt alone could cost nearly $60 million at today's prices. And that doesn't include all the engineering, right of way acquisition, concrete, steel, excavating, construction, landscaping, labor, etc. etc.

And asphalt prices fluctuate with oil prices, and we all know where those are headed. If the asphalt had been purchased in September of 2008, the cost of the asphalt alone would have been $94 million.

And keep in mind that the highway would have to be resurfaced about every 12 years or so, at approx. 1/3 the original asphalt cost. That would be in addition to maintaining the existing Alcoa Highway corridor.

So nobody can really say what a highway project will cost until the bids are let and the contracts are signed. It's almost like writing a faith-based blank check.

SEE ALSO: Here's a reader submitted timeline of asphalt costs, along with traffic counts and some other interesting data. Note that traffic counts have declined, and appear loosely tied to unemployment rates and/or gas prices. And here's a chart of asphalt and gas prices.