Seriously, I hate what has happened since they blocked off Woodmont Avenue one week ago, on what is part of my daily commute, not one, not two, but at least four times per day! I don’t think anyone saw it coming. To drive down Woodmont and suddenly dead end into a wall of construction, only to have to detour either left into hell, or right into hell!

Twenty months! Are they serious? Where was the community on this one? How did we collectively fail to see this one coming? What has happened to the idyllic little part of what used to be my walking commute (when I lived one block south of Bethesda Avenue) to check out the bookstore, grab a bagel, grab a coffee, grab a salad, take my son to the toy store, run into the neighbors for a bit to chat, or just go for a walk.

Now my mornings and evenings are spent either sitting on the already congested Wisconsin Avenue or Arlington Avenue, as I go back and forth to first take my son to school 10 miles in one direction, drive back to work 5 miles in the other direction, return to pick up my son in the rush hour again, and then back home in a hurried frenzy to get dinner on the table.

Having had a week now to feel the impact of this road closure, and truly being able to see the actual size of what they are constructing, one has to wonder if this project was presented truthfully to the neighbors who now have to share their sun with this construction site, and who depend on commuters like me. If it was, I think there would have been a lot more commotion at that planning meeting.

Speaking of the sun, which will soon be blocked by an even greater display of excess, who will enjoy sitting by the fountain in front of Barnes and Noble, or the patio of Mon Ami Gabi, to have their quiet time disrupted by the cranes and jack hammers tearing up the road? I will just as soon avoid that part of Bethesda Avenue completely, and I am sad for the businesses that will be affected for quite some time as a result, since surely I am not the only one.

Why does Bethesda need another high rise, and all this disruption and congestion making me question why I still live in Bethesda? Did I need the daily aggravation or blood pressure spikes?

Deborah Stevens, Bethesda