The accident on Forest Drive on May 26 and the resulting snarl was another reminder of how the Annapolis Neck is already at capacity and unsuited to any further large-scale development. We as residents need to ask why anyone would conclude that additional development along the peninsula is a good idea when it’s clear we can’t handle the traffic volume we have now.

In addition to the traffic congestion, the schools on the peninsula are in some cases over capacity, as made apparent by all the temporary classrooms we see popping up around Hillsmere Elementary and other schools. The devastation of what little green space remains on the peninsula would be another outcome of Crystal Spring and other planned developments.

The thousands of people who are outraged over this situation want some answers from the city administration. Developers are hoping to profit from taking our quality of life, and at taxpayer expense, as we continue to pay more to support the infrastructure required of additional development.

Other than those who stand to profit from it, nobody who lives here, myself included, wants 170,000 square feet of commercial use buildings, a hotel or 1,000 more residences.

Can we afford to overbuild a community that falls into total gridlock every time an accident occurs on Forest Drive? I don’t believe we can, and ask my neighbors on the Annapolis Neck to support our fight to keep the quality of life as it is.

ANDREA HARDIN NADER, ANNAPOLIS

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