“It was like a sucker punch.”

Tollefson’s blunt assessment came near the end of much criticism at this week’s city council meeting from members of the public who have been left saddened, and angry, over the carnage along Highway 305 in the past weeks.

We’re talking, of course, about the massive clearing and cutting of trees along Bainbridge’s scenic highway corridor.

Hundreds of trees have been removed for construction of a piece of the Sound to Olympics Trail, a paved route next to 305 that city officials envision will be used by walkers, bikers and others from Bainbridge and beyond.

Many have complained that while the city had acknowledged some trees would need to be removed to make way for the trail, the public was never informed about the vast amount of tree removal that was really required — not during the design phase, not during the permitting phase, and not before excavators and chainsaw operators began to make their way north along the highway to High School Road.

Indeed, Tollefson, who noted he had been involved from the very start of the talk about the trail and had even taken a guided tour along the route of the paved path, was shocked at the amount of trees removed.

This week, the city finally put a public number on how many came down: 282.

City officials said they were required to follow the state Department of Transportation’s design manual for transportation improvements. Those rules require a 10- to 12-foot-wide path, plus 2-foot shoulders on each side, plus room for drainage and more.

Supporters of the trail note that the first stages of construction always pose dramatic initial changes, but the look of the area will improve in the long run.

Tollefson, too, said the community will value the trail when “all is said and done.”

But for some of those 60-year-old trees that were cut down and will be replaced for 5-year-old saplings, that’s a long wait.

Islanders also need to consider what Highway 305 will look like when the trail eventually is built north of High School Road.

Sadly, we are only left to expect more of the same.