Site grading has begun for a new Cracker Barrel restaurant in Calera, located at the intersection of highways 304 and 31 at the traffic light by Wal-Mart.

Calera Mayor George Roy said the restaurant is opening in Calera, as far as he knows.

Calera Council member and Chamber of Commerce board member Tommie Lynn Morrison verified that the restaurant is coming to Calera.

Morrison said the company bought the land next to Wal-Mart at an auction last year.

Morrison said the increased tax base should enable Calera to improve and expand services for residents.

The Highway 31/304 intersection has become a commercial hot-spot for Calera, boosting the city’s financial reservoirs.

Muddy, red-clay construction plots await new tax-generating hosts along the retail corridor centered around Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Signs compete for space amid the Wal-Mart parking lot, luring customers into newly-painted parking

spaces.

The new Cracker Barrel will join a bevy of fast-food restaurants at the intersection such as Taco Bell, Captain D’s and McDonalds.