To the Editor:

Every stretch of two lane highway in this country with a posted 55 mph speed limit has those same conditions mentioned by Mr. Martin in his letter ("U.S. Rt. 11 Improvements Needed to Save Human Lives" online only, Feb. 27).

It has been recognized for decades to be safe by experts and is widely accepted throughout this nation over millions of miles of highway. It hardly makes the North Country the equivalent of living in the Dark Ages.

And I doubt the accident statistics support his claim that stretches of Route 11 in the North Country are some of the most dangerous highways in the state.

Beyond a few choke points in villages that might sadly justify a bypass (ask the residents of Richville what economic effects one would have, they're best avoided if at all possible), most of the infrastructure of Route 11 is more than adequate for the traffic density up here.

Maintain what we have, we don't need to raise taxes to pay for infrastructure that we don't need that will be built by contractors far away from the North Country that won't do anything to change the economic outlook of the North Country.

It's not a magic pill that will suddenly reverse our economic picture.

Leo Ames

Potsdam