With a bit of pomp and ceremony, ground was broken Friday morning at Rotary Park in Salem for a new section of the Roanoke River Greenway.

A group of 14 local and state officials sank 14 golden shovels into the earth to launch the construction of a 1.2-mile stretch of river trail that extends from the park upstream to the Colorado Street bridge.

When finished, it will be the longest segment built in the city so far.

The new greenway should be open and running by mid-October if the weather holds and the "river don't rise," according to the Salem engineering department.

Dubbed "phase II A" by the city, the $470,000 project fits with the ongoing effort to extend a 30-mile greenway from the west side of Roanoke County to the east side.

At least two more construction phases are expected to complete the trail through the city in the future.

"We've been working on this for six, seven years," said Will Simpson, a Salem city engineer, ticking off surveys, easements and reviews that had to be secured along the way.

But the work met the approval of several officials who took the microphone Friday, touting the greenway as a natural tourist draw and prudent community investment.

"This guy who is cheap very much approves," said state Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Botetourt County, referring to himself. Then to the city of Salem, he added, "When you spend money, you spend it wisely."

The scale of the groundbreaking was upstaged by a neighboring project. Eric Divers, a 17-year-old Salem High School student, was working to secure his status as an Eagle Scout.

His project in Rotary Park was a "rain garden," which will help purify runoff into the river. And he already had a large earthmover on-site.

"My hole's bigger," Divers observed after the ceremony.