St. PAUL – The hopes of local officials that the Highway 23 “gap” between New London and Paynesville and other, area transportation projects in the region would be awarded Corridor of Commerce funds were left unmet.   The Minnesota Department of Transportation awarded a total of $417 million to four projects as part of the 2018 Corridors of Commerce program on Tuesday. None of the hoped-for local projects made the cut. MnDOT Commissioner Charlie Zelle announced that funding for 2018