Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state's Department of Transportation say they are making sure Syracuse residents benefit from the economic opportunities brought out by the I-81 viaduct project.

The local hiring initiative, they say, gives residents living in the zip codes that make up the city of Syracuse and Onondaga Nation Territory the opportunity to work on the massive project.

So far, 136 employees have been onboarded. The goal for each contract associated with the I-81 project is to have at least 15% of the workforce hailing from Central New York.