CANTON – The village Board of Trustees added its voice to the Rooftop Highway debate by unanimously endorsing the YESeleven plan for the St. Lawrence County Planning Office to address the issue of upgrades to U.S. Rt. 11 including a Canton-Potsdam bypass.

“We are eager to join with the Town of Canton and Village and Town of Potsdam in joint resolutions if they sign on,” said Trustee Carol Pynchon.

YESeleven, a group based in Canton that is opposed to the I-98 Interstate Highway plan of a multi-lane limited access highway between Plattsburgh and Watertown costing billions of dollars, is proposing a more modest, less expensive and less disruptive set of

upgrades and bypasses along U.S. Rt. 11 to improve transportation along the “rooftop” of the North Country.

I-98 proponents are pushing for the Interstate-standard roadway which they believe will be worth the expense in construction costs and disruption to the landscape with the delivery of economic benefits from construction jobs first and business development thereafter.

But the village board expressed its desire to see how county planners analyze the options for Rt. 11.