What is this malarkey we have been hearing concerning extending Interstate 95 from Houlton to northern Aroostook County? All we in the County — the northern part, at least — are asking for is an extension of I-95 from Houlton to the top of Maine, a distance of approximately 175 miles. So why is the Maine Department of Transportation talking about 10 different routes with vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines? A vertical route is all we’re concerned about — going from north to south in the quickest and shortest distance.

This part of the state can never reach its full economic potential without a decent highway system, as long as our trucks travel on the oldest and most outdated highway in the country. U.S. Route 1 was never designed nor was it intended to carry the heavy loads of pulpwood, potatoes, paper, broccoli and other products that it handles every day. That is why we believe it is ridiculous when Gov. King says we in the north should use the Transcanada Highway to travel downstate.

We need a decent highway on the American side of the border in order for Aroostook to prosper and grow and to stop exporting our lifeblood — our young people — to southern Maine to look for good-paying jobs. Reno J. Thibodeau Van Buren