YESeleven is a newly formed group of local citizens who are concerned with highway transportation needs and priorities in northern New York State.

Our concern is that needs are not being met and priorities are badly misplaced.

More specifically, we believe that US Route 11, the primary arterial highway across our region, is in critical need of improvements to make it safer and more efficient, and to improve the communities within its corridor.  Such improvements were first advanced in 2008 by the  NY State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.  (Follow the link on the right to the Northern Tier Transportation Study >>>).  We feel improvement of the Route 11 corridor should be our top highway transportation priority. 

Moreover, we feel the so-called “Rooftop Highway” (aka “I-98” by its proponents), an idea of a 4-lane superhighway across our region, is an unrealistic and bad idea that is diverting time, energy and money away from real needs like improving the Route 11 corridor. 

YESeleven……. What we’re for and what we’re against.……. 

We SUPPORT the following proposals:   
 
  • safe passing lanes between communities 
  • bypasses around Gouverneur, Canton, Potsdam, Malone and Rouses Point 
  • improved traffic controls throughout the corridor
  • future expansion to 4 lanes if and when needed
 
We OPPOSE spending taxpayer money on promoting the “Rooftop Highway” (aka “I-98”), an unneeded, unaffordable and totally unrealistic pie-in-the-sky scheme that would…
 
  • cost at least $4 billion to build and $10 million annually to maintain
  • require costly and damaging “spurs” to serve river communities such as Massena and Ogdensurg
  • establish a new economic corridor across the North Country that will divert commerce from existing communities to franchise businesses at interchanges
  • destroy local farms, forests, wetlands and wildlife
  • involve massive government taking of private land by eminent domain
 
It is vital that you sign our petition so we can bring pressure to bear on public officials at all levels of government to implement realistic and sensible transportation policies.  Please standup and be counted by signing the petition to the right  >>> 

 

Comments or Suggestions?

You can send us your ideas through a form found here.

Thank you!

John Danis & John Casserly
YESeleven  Co-coordinators