Dozens of construction workers backed up a lane of the Long Island Expressway with their vehicles Monday to send a message to Gov. David Paterson and President-elect Barack Obama about the need for infrastructure dollars.

The Long Island Contractors Association truck convoy drove from Rep. Steve Israel?s (D-Huntington) offices in Hauppauge to Sen. Charles Schumer?s (D-N.Y.) in Melville in single file.

?This is not a protest,? Marc Herbst, of LICA, said Monday. ?This is a demonstration. We are demonstrating the ability and willingness to work for Long Island and to work for the economy.?

Members of the construction industry want Paterson to appoint a transportation czar to put together a list of construction projects in New York and get them to Washington quickly. A representative for the governor said Paterson ?is committed to putting a senior staff member in charge of coordinating all of the state agency activities to work with municipalities to help municipalities expedite their projects.?

The state did put together a preliminary list of 18 infrastructure projects on Long Island that it wants funded by federal money.

AP wire reports contributed to this article.