As an academic who studies the way in which the military uses expensive studies to reach conclusions that depart from simple common sense, I should not be surprised that the military has concluded that increasing the workforce of the combined Bethesda Naval and Walter Reed hospitals by 44 percent has improved traffic in the area [“Bethesda gridlock, rosy study at odds,” front page, Aug. 7].
However, as someone who has the misfortune to live by the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, I am astonished. A year ago it took 15 minutes to get to my daughter’s preschool or to take my son to soccer practice; now each trip takes half an hour. It is not uncommon to see such complete gridlock that no cars can move through lights when they are green. To expand the hospital still more, as the military plans, would be pure insanity. We need, instead, a new exit from the Beltway directly onto hospital grounds.
Hugh Gusterson, Bethesda
Rather than question the validity of the Walter Reed report about improved traffic congestion, one should consider the following:
The expected increase in traffic has already been absorbed. But the stakeholders — the BRAC Implementation Committee and state road agencies — continue to use pre-implementation estimates to justify expansion of roads around the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Jones Bridge Road. This includes a project underway to build a right-turn-only lane on southbound Connecticut at this intersection without a parallel expansion on westbound Jones Bridge. This project will simply enlarge the “parking lot” at this intersection during morning rush hour. The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) funds should be used exclusively to finance the pedestrian tunnel under Rockville Pike to connect the Metro Medical Center station with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Michael Kirkland, Chevy Chase
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