The following is a letter to the editor from Canyon Park Business Center Owners’ Association:

Canyon Park is home to dozens of residential communities and businesses, with neighbors that include the Bothell Fire Department, Crystal Springs Elementary School, PCC and several retail stores and medical clinics.

Canyon Park is also home to a thriving Business Center where you’ll find some of our region’s premier bio-tech, research and medical companies.

Unfortunately, the route home or to work for residents, employees and anyone who visits Canyon Park is about to become substantially worse if a plan under consideration by the City of Bothell is approved.

The Canyon Park Subarea Plan calls for doubling the density for homes and businesses in the area but fails to address the increased traffic or mitigate congestion that would result. That means more cars on the same roads without a way to deal with them.

By failing to address increased traffic and congestion morning and evening commutes will be worse; pedestrian and bicycle safety will be threatened, our residential streets will be unsafe and unfriendly, and essential fire, ambulance, EMT and other first responders will be delayed.

More density without traffic mitigation is not responsible growth. Canyon Park business owners have raised these concerns to the City, but they are not listening. Instead, they are proceeding with a plan that they know will worsen already failing roads. This is a tremendous waste of City resources that will end in gridlock and litigation.

The current and future employees, residents and business owners in Canyon Park deserve responsible planning that takes safety and quality of life seriously. That is why the Canyon Park Business Center Board opposes this current Canyon Park Subarea Plan that fails to include safe, functional streets for Bothell.

Sincerely,

Karen Martinez

President, Canyon Park Owners’ Association