Careful planning eases growing pains

By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Intertwining trails, paths, fields and parks make the city a recreational resource for the entire region. The Sammamish River runs more shallowly than it did 100 years ago, but its slow-moving waters and shoreline trails are enjoyed annually by thousands of recreational canoeists, kayakers, walkers, joggers, bicyclists and in-line skaters.

Travel the Burke-Gilman Trail from Gasworks Park in Seattle to Marymoor Park in Redmond, and at about midpoint you will reach Bothell Landing. The area is rich with historic buildings, a bridge connecting to the trail and nearby Blyth Park, a children's play area -- and crowing roosters along the riverfront.

"Ten years ago, we were a bedroom community, but we're not anymore," says Bill Wiselogle, community planning manager for Bothell. "We're a bona fide employment center (with 14,000 jobs) without having lost the family-oriented, hometown feeling."

The growth, welcomed by many as long as it is carefully planned and keeps Bothell "livable," has its downside. Urban problems have come with increased urbanization. Bothell citizens recently showed strong support for a $9.7 million public safety bond issue to build a new police station and courthouse downtown, replacing what many call "woefully inadequate" facilities. The Feb. 4 measure has not been validated yet (it requires at least a 40 percent voter turnout and 60 percent voter approval).

Prompted by concerns over increased traffic, roads are being widened, in part to mitigate congestion expected from the UW branch campus. The campus is expected to open in 1999 with about 2,000 students, increasing to as many as 17,000 later.

Transportation issues aside, the campus is widely considered a welcome addition to the community, residents and town officials say.

"The campus will . . . change the face of Bothell," City Manager Richard Kirkwood says. "We have a great face now, but the campus will be an enhancement."

Continued:

• A logging and farm town yields to people and technology
• Adapting to changing times
• Sleepy downtown endures and endears, at least for now
• Hometown sentiment prevails over glass towers