The New York State Department of Transportation in the US has awarded a highway construction contract to Lancaster Development.

The project, worth $56.5m, involves the construction of a 4.5-mile, four-lane connector road and a new highway exit in the US state.

The connector road, to be named Interstate 781, will link the state’s Fort Drum area to Interstate 81 in northern New York and provide a more direct route to the base of the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division.

Work on the new highway will begin in the next few days and is expected to be complete in 2012, according to Associated Press.