Building an expensive east-west extension of Interstate 95 in Aroostook County is going backward. New four-lane highways represent failed policy. The trucking and road construction boys may want more I-95, but the fact is both freight and passengers should be moved by rail.

Across the nation people are realizing that more roads and more automobiles are damaging our environment, our health, our way of life. They belch unhealthy fumes, they trigger traffic jams and road rage. They maim and kill us. Yet our Department of Transportation forges on, still believing that if we only add more lanes and increase speed limits things will be better.

Trains are fast, safe and efficient. Trains create a fraction of the pollution generated by automobiles. Trains are a bargain compared to the cost of cars and roads. Let’s put our highway taxes into sensible transportation. Let’s get serious about restoring a functional rail system throughout Maine.

Steve Cartwright

Waldoboro