Just nine days prior to the grade crossing changes, Governor Nelson Rockefeller announced that bids would open on the construction of the new alignment of NY 17, the Southern Tier Expressway on February 16. The state announced that the amount would come out to $15.123 million for the new road, but half of that would be paid by Appalachia funds, while the state would pay for the rest. As part of the construction, a new, five-span, bridge across the Susquehanna River and Erie-Lackawanna Railroad tracks would be constructed. This new bridge would also involve a relocation of NY 282 to the east, while having the former toll bridge removed. In April 1967, the state of New York announced that the Perini Corporation of Framingham, Massachusetts, who was constructing a section of the expressway east of Owego village, won the bid of $11,706,225.10 to construct the new expressway, along with the relocated NY 282 with a slated completion date of December 1, 1969.