Bothell’s population has nearly increased 10,000 people over the span of six years. Traffic, detours, and new housing developments are creating issues throughout the city daily. King County employment rate grew 3.6 percent in 2015. Sounds good, right? The construction employment grew 18.4 percent in the first quarter of 2015.

What does that mean? Construction jobs are filling just as fast as houses. On every corner, trees are being cut down to build new developments. Residential rent rates have reached an average of 9 percent from 2012-2015 because of the population growth and housing demands. If there are tons of cars on the streets now, imagine how many there will be when all the new homes are completed.

The North Shore School District has roughly 5,000 high schoolers with only three high schools open until the start of the 2017-2018 school year. There are so many students that in my sophomore year of high school (2014-2015), my first period class had about 40 students. How do you expect one teacher to assist 40 kids? If overpopulation is affecting our education, imagine how it’s affecting our everyday lives. This has become an issue for me because a five minute commute from Woodinville to Bothell has now tripled. Sitting at an intersection through a green light is very frustrating. Cars block intersections and make it nearly impossible to just get downtown at a decent hour. I have been late to work and school multiple times because of all the traffic. More detours should be available and if there is going to be massive amounts of construction we should have more monitoring from the workers. Not only are trees being torn down and streets being ripped up, but it’s a distraction to drivers.

Some construction sites will stay untouched for months. Driving by cones and tore up pavement with a project that looks left behind. Even though we can’t stop all of the construction, one project should be completed before moving to the next. Doing only a few projects at a time will cause less chaos on every street corner, and allow us citizens get to where we need to be on time. We can talk to Bothell’s City Council to reduce construction in the morning and evenings. On Oct. 25 there is a Public Hearing at 6 p.m. These concerns should be heard. One project at a time our city can be complete.

McKenna Hartman, Woodinville