CANTON – Members of an advocacy group supporting improvements to Route 11, say criticism of a Department of Transportation memo is unjustified.

In a letter to NorthCountryNow.com, YESeleven, a group that opposed a rooftop highway but favors improvements to Route 11, said statements made by officials and members of the Northern Corridor Transportation Group were merely an attempt to sabotage a study that was commissioned by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

“We feel it is essential that real solutions to our local transportation problems be developed, solutions that work for our communities now and in the future. Last week a controversy developed over a study being undertaken by the State DOT,” the letter submitted by John Casserly and John Danis on behalf of YESeleven says.

Critics of the draft memo said it lacked clarity and did not focus on the economic aspect of the project.

“It’s a very confusing document,” said Potsdam Village Trustee Steven Warr, according to the press release sent on behalf of the Northern Corridor Transportation Group by Jason Clark, a former St. Lawrence County legislator from Norfolk.

NorthCountryNow.com’s report of the criticisms can be found at http://northcountrynow.com/news/i-98-advocate-and-local-officials-call-dot-potsdam-canton-bypass-report-confusing-inadequate-01.

“The memorandum was not favorable toward the feasibility of constructing a four-lane interstate-type highway between Watertown and Plattsburgh, which has outraged a few supporters of the long-debated and controversial Rooftop Highway,” the letter from YESeleven says.

Members of YESelevn say the harsh criticism of the memo has the potential of undermining highway transportation planning efforts vital to the economic health and vitality of our area.

“It appears to be an attempt to sabotage this well-funded and necessary highway transportation study,” the letter says.

In addition to studying the Watertown to Plattsburgh corridor, YESEleven says “needs and opportunities in the Canton-Potsdam area are also being evaluated.”

“A team of highly qualified professional engineers working with a diverse group of local stakeholders is conducting the study. An outreach program with meaningful opportunities for citizen participation will be an important part of the effort,” the letter says. “There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that we need the DOT. They have the expertise and access to funds needed to undertake infrastructure projects that will make our transportation systems safer and more efficient and improve our local communities. The last thing we should do is bite the hand that feeds us. Yet, the critics did just that - they chomped down on the hand of the DOT with their vicious and, in our opinion, unjustified criticism.”

According to YESeleven, the criticized draft technical memo concludes that a new east-west 4-lane interstate-type highway between Watertown and Plattsburgh is not economically justified.

“This should be no surprise to anyone that has traveled elsewhere and experienced real traffic flow and congestion issues. The need is simply not here,” the letter says. “Previous studies in 2002 and 2008 came to the same conclusion and nothing has really changed. However, Rooftop Highway promoters see it differently. They see the highway as a driver for economic development, not a response to an actual need. It is an unproven theory that a new interstate highway would stimulate economic development.”

The full letter can be viewed at http://northcountrynow.com/letters/yeseleven-group-responds-harsh-criticism-dot-study-0136951