With New York sitting on on a $5 billion budget surplus, local officials are calling for a major investment into Upstate's deteriorating roads and bridges.
There is a lot of maneuvering for the cash and several times the total in proposals on how to spend it. Some will almost certainly go to the multi-billion dollar construction of the Thruway's Tappan Zee Bridge.
Locally, elected officials, union leaders and contractors turned out to pitch for use on this area's roads and bridges.
Senator Patrick Gallivan says there is a lot of support for a set-aside fund for roads and bridges.
"We want to make sure it's funded properly and it's distributed fairly, fairly and equitably to each end of the state. We know that our end of the state has been on the short stick over the years and now we have the opportunity to fix that," Gallivan said.
Supporters say Albany is pouring money into recreation sites and economic development projects but much of the money will be wasted if the roads and bridges are so bad people can't get to those football games or solar panel factories.
