The recent suggestion that Route 17 should be three lanes brings back memories.

When I was a child our Sunday trip to Deer Camp in Westbrookville brought us to Monticello and down Route 17 via Wurtsboro mountain.

At that time Route 17 was three lanes with two lanes northbound to Monticello.

Even though the city folks had two full lanes they often popped over to the southbound lane to pass their city buddies.

That practice resulted in horn blowing and bad feelings all around.

In fact to avoid the rat race on Route 17 we often returned home via Oakland Valley, Route 42 to Monticello and Route 17B home.

When I lived in Napanoch Route 209 was a three-laner. Although the road was clearly marked there were some problems.

Northbound drivers often had the right-of-way to the third lane, but they often avoided a collision by dropping back into the right lane. The reason?

Some southbound drivers tired of just noodling along behind slow drivers decided to try for the third lane.

I know Route 17 traffic patterns will be studied before any decisions are made.

Sometimes when we attempt to solve a problem the solution is worse than the original problem.

And, in many cases, the non-solution has cost large chunks of change and didn't satisfy anyone.

We all will have to wait and see what the proposal is. Maybe the solution will please everyone.

Stay safe, stay strong and keep smiling.