The so-called “Missing Link” of the Foothills Parkway in east Tennessee is now scheduled for completion by 2015.

Officials with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park say a $33.8 million contract has been awarded to the Lane Construction Company of Charlotte. The half-mile section of the road between Walland and Wears Valley, Tenn., includes three bridges.

The Foothills Parkway is a scenic parkway congressionally authorized in 1944. The parkway corridor is 72 miles long, but to date, only two discontinuous segments totaling 22.5 miles are completed and open. Administered by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Parkway parallels the Park’s northern boundary from Chilhowee Lake, Tenn., to Interstate 40 near Cosby, Tenn.