Congratulations and thanks to the New York State Department of Transportation for making immediate plans to repair a road in the Town of Willsboro that has badly needed it for too long.

A stretch of between seven and eight miles on Route 22 between exit 33 of the Northway and hamlet of Willsboro has been a local version of the Oregon Trail for at least a couple of years now. It has been patched and repatched, to the point where a smooth ride is nothing but a distant memory.

To begin with, the section of road is very serpentine, winding — rather charmingly, actually — through forest and scant development. Under the best of circumstances, driving it would require some degree of concentration. Surely more, for example, than navigating the Northway at much higher speeds.

But throw in the washboard pavement, and the trip becomes more of a challenge.

We realize DOT has a limited budget and must evaluate projects by taking numerous factors into account, prominent among them being the amount of traffic they represent. The road between Willsboro and the Northway does not serve a high-population area. Neither are the end points populous. Nevertheless, travel the road and you regularly encounter a considerable number of vehicles.

And the road has gotten so bad it cries out for attention, even if it has limited use, praise be.

Recently, Letters to the Editor and Speakouts in the Press-Republican have drawn attention to the woeful condition of the road, and the calls for rebuilding or even resurfacing have become more urgent.

DOT has either responded to the calls or had fortuitously included the work in next year's plans. Either way, the department has scheduled a meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Willsboro Central School auditorium to talk about the project. The work would amount to rehabilitating Route 22 from Essex County Road 14, Mountain View Drive, to U.S. Route 9 at exit 33.

We expect a substantial and vigorous turnout, if the transmissions we've received from Willsboro residents are any indication.

Questions about the project can be directed to the project manager, Michael Cukrovany, at DOT in Schenectady. His phone number is 388-0260.

This work will be gratefully welcomed by motorists who regularly make that drive. We realize the state's funds are now very dear, but anyone who has been on that stretch will agree it deserves a share of the scarce pool.

Some will say it's about time. We won't say that. We'll just leave it at thanks a lot and we look forward to many happy returns from Willsboro.