An Opinion Page article by Advance Media New York via the Associated Press, dated Dec. 9, concerns the many problems, lawsuits, etc., involving Interstate 81 through Syracuse.

As a senior citizen, I cannot help but recall conversations with more than one retired Transportation Department engineer, citing the fact that Route 81 was recommended to be built east of Oneida Lake.

I believe at one time it was called the Nuway and would run from Ogdensburg south to Binghamton.

The rationale behind this plan was to benefit the dairy farming community by making their products much more efficiently transported from the North Country south to large dairy consumption areas such as New York City.

Officials at the time, however, felt it would be more efficient to place the highway on a track to pass through Syracuse.

While this plan was beneficial to many businesses and industries in Syracuse, no one could foresee the problems that have come about as a result of a well-intentioned
highway plan — an unfortunate development that hopefully will come to a conclusion beneficial to all concerned.

— Howard Bushinger, Deerfield