 NYSDOT had originally planned on opening the bidding process for the construction of I-781 itself on April 1, 2010; however, the date was pushed back to May 6 due to the lack of an approved state budget.The state previously had plans to award the contract as early as December 2009; however, the earlier date was conditional on the allocation of enough funds for the project by that time.On July 20, NYSDOT announced that a $56.5 million contract was let to Lancaster Development of Richmondville to construct the freeway.