Having just finished a trip from Myrtle Beach to Florida, I can say that I drove for days on US Rt. 17 and got a first hand look at the value of completing DOT recommended enhancements to US Rt. 11. The sections in areas between villages, the road has been or is being widened with passing lanes or 4 lane sections. There has been re-routing of the road around or to the edges of communities that previously went through the main business section. People in SLC need to get behind a winning and doable idea that can get funded in a collapsing NYS budget instead of holding out like children for I-98, convinced that “if you build it, they will come.” You don’t have to read tea leaves to see “they ain’t gonna build it...” Coming off I-81 at the new Drum exit and then bypassing Gouverneur, Canton, Potdam, and Malone, would get someone to a new exit to I-87 almost as quickly as a separate four-lane highway will.