CARIBOU – Fifty years after the creation of Interstate 95 under the Eisenhower administration, yet another round of hearings and meetings are planned in northern Maine to discuss what should have been the completion of the I-95 through the entire state from Kittery to the St. John Valley.

The purpose of the August meetings is to discuss the supplemental draft environmental impact statement with members of the public advisory committee of the north-south highway from Houlton to the St. John Valley, and public hearings on the statement.

While construction could start on some segments of the new highway by 2008, the 100-mile continuation of I-95 that ends in Houlton has been sought by Aroostook County residents since 1968.

Since then, millions of dollars have been spent on studies that show that northern Maine needs to be connected to the remainder of the state.

The entire project has been studied, to the tune of more than $12 million, for the past decade. The last eight years have seen scores of studies done.

John Melrose, president of Maine Tomorrow, a Hallowell-based consulting firm, was hired by Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development to continue the momentum of building a better highway system through Aroostook County.

Melrose, former commissioner of the Department of Transportation, has said that recent traffic counts show that traffic between Caribou and Presque Isle is heavier than it is on more than one-third of the interstate system in Maine.

The interstate system goes through 100 miles of central and northern Maine where there is relatively little development, and it stops where a relatively good-sized population exists.

One Aroostook County company told Melrose that cutting 20 minutes of travel one way would be a $17 million annual savings for them.

The upcoming impact statement will show that there is only so much money available and priorities have to be set. Projects are being considered in Presque Isle and Caribou.

Melrose said the Caribou-Westfield proposal is part of the plan for a four-lane roadway from I-95 to the St. John Valley. The entire project must be broken up in parts that can be constructed when money becomes available.

Construction costs on the project would be 80 percent paid by the federal government with Maine paying the remaining 20 percent. A four-lane road would cost an estimated $3 million per mile to build.

There is only $42 million set aside for construction of segments of the north-south highway. Projects at Caribou and Presque Isle are estimated to cost $62 million.

The impact statement has been out since early July, and the final statement is expected later this fall or winter. Copies of the report are at the libraries at the Universities of Maine at Fort Kent and Presque Isle, the Maine Department of Transportation office in Presque Isle, the Northern Maine Development Commission in Caribou, the Federal Highway Administration Office and the Maine DOT, both in Augusta. The statement can also be viewed at www.vhb.com/aroostook.

The public advisory committee meeting will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center. Public hearings will be held starting at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 14, at the Frenchville Community Center; Tuesday, Aug. 15, at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center; and Wednesday, Aug. 16, at the Millar Civic Center in Houlton.

The public session begins with an open house, and is followed by the hearings at 7 p.m.

Written comments also can be submitted to the MDOT by Aug. 31.

The MDOT will answer questions about the plan, and hear residents’ concerns and comments on the proposed actions.

They listed three topics for the public hearings:

. Improving a segment of Route 161 from Caribou to Cross Lake.

. Construction of a Caribou bypass connecting Route 1 to Route 161 in Caribou.

. Construction of a Presque Isle bypass connecting Route 1 south of Presque Isle to Route 1 north of the Aroostook River in Presque Isle.

Details about the three segments are in the impact statement. Interested individuals can also contact Raymond E. Faucher, project manager with the MDOT, at 624-3300 or Mark Hasselmann of the Federal Highway Administration at 622-8355.