During a ribbon-cutting ceremony in South Arlington County, Virginia, officials unveiled the newly-revitalized Columbia Pike Wednesday.

But after many years of construction and approximately $200 million spent, many of the improvements can’t be seen. That’s not because they didn’t happen — it’s because they’re underground.

“You wouldn’t notice significant work underground that is coordinating between Comcast, Verizon, Washington Gas and Dominion” said Matt di Ferranti, the chair of the Arlington County Board.

He said the extensive work prepares the area for the future.

“We now have greater electrical power security because almost the whole pike is underground of the utilities, which is a significant improvement for the residents of these neighborhoods,” di Ferranti said.

The project, however, was not without it’s detractors; construction took a long time and the disruption to traffic resulted in many small businesses losing money, or closing all together.

“In some ways, I think it’s a regression in the sense that so many businesses went out of business during this time,” said Dave Bogdan, who’s lived near the pike for 48 years.

However di Ferranti said the huge investment was worth it and that the “future is bright, bright, bright for Columbia Pike, even if there were real costs of the last few years.”

The Columbia Pike Project also involves wider sidewalks, new bus stations, bike share locations and other transit improvements between S. Oak Street in the east to S. Jefferson Street in the west.