Look at the corner of Main Street and Bothell Way NE this month and you'll see six new murals. One pairs a painting with a haiku. Another uses Warli folk art from India to show Bothell scenes. A third, painted by students, mixes rainbows, transit, geometric shapes and pictures of the future. The City of Bothell calls this lot Triangle Junction, and its own announcement describes it as "a once-overlooked corner of downtown Bothell" that has been turned into an outdoor gallery.
The murals are the newest layer on a corner the city has been building up since 2021. They also fill in one end of a fall calendar that runs straight down Main Street. If your fall plans include a Halloween walk, a December tree lighting, or a dinner at one of the restaurants that opened this year, you'll probably pass this corner more than once before New Year's.
Six Artists, One Theme
Early in 2026, the Bothell Arts Commission asked visual and literary artists with Bothell ties to make work on the theme "Intersection." Stipends were offered, there was no application fee, and applications closed March 13. More than twenty artists applied, and the commission picked six.
According to the city's dedication notice, here's what's on the walls:
- Julio Velela, a Bothell resident and graphic designer, painted the downtown places and activities that bring people together.
- Devika Kapoor combined traditional Warli folk art of India with Bothell imagery to show different journeys meeting in one community.
- Ananda Basak used music and bold color to show culture and human connection meeting.
- Luke Brannon made Where We Meet, based on haiga, a Japanese form that pairs an image with a haiku, as a reflection on our connection to nature.
- Taylor Ruhland made Confluence and Currents, about how local waterways, wildlife and plants depend on each other.
- Students from the Alyssa Burnett Center took on intersection and intersectionality with rainbows, community, nature, transportation, geometric shapes and future goals.
The city set the dedication for Saturday, September 26 at 2 p.m., right after Sustainamania wrapped up at City Hall. The murals stay up after the ribbon-cutting, so any walk downtown this fall will take you past them.
Why This Corner Had Room for Art
In March 2021, the City Council approved four prefab buildings along Main Street and Bothell Way NE for a program called Pop Shops on Main. It gives small businesses retail space downtown on a rotating basis. By early 2026 the program had grown to eight shops. It now also includes a Mobile Food Incubator, which helps new food-truck businesses get through permitting and gives them a rotating schedule on the same lot.
The food program is fairly new. A December 2025 city notice said approved mobile food businesses would work Triangle Junction on a rotating schedule for one year. Applications for the 2026 to 2028 rounds of both programs closed March 23, 2026. So the shops and trucks you see this fall are part of a group picked this year.
The murals, then, are the third use the city has layered onto one small lot. The city describes the plaza as ADA-accessible, with covered seating and community flowerpots, and says it's open to workshops, music, informational fairs and other events. Community groups can pitch an event idea through the city's economic development office. It holds a few shops, some food, a place to sit, and now six walls of local art, all on the corner the city itself calls once-overlooked.
The Fall Calendar Runs Down Main Street
From Triangle Junction, the rest of downtown's fall and holiday events are within a few blocks along Main Street, plus two nights at McMenamins on Bothell Way NE.
| Date | Event | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Time Warp Halloween Dance Party | McMenamins Anderson School, 18607 Bothell Way NE | 21+ |
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Trick-or-Treat on Main Street | Main Street and 101st Avenue NE | Free, 5 to 7 p.m., 30+ businesses and community groups |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Spooky Family Fun | McMenamins Anderson School | All ages |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Bothell Tree Lighting Festival | Main Street and 102nd Avenue NE | Holiday market noon to 5 p.m., activities 4 to 6:30 p.m., Santa and tree lighting at 5 p.m. |
The Trick-or-Treat on Main Street trail runs along Main Street and 101st Avenue NE, and the city's announcement describes the participants as more than 30 businesses and community groups without naming them. It says the map will go up one week before the event, which works out to about Friday, October 23. If you want to plan a route with small kids, check back then.
The Bothell Tree Lighting Festival is put on by the Northshore Rotary Foundation. Its holiday market opens at noon, so you can shop on Main Street hours before the tree lights at 5 p.m.
Where to Eat Before or After
Several 2026 openings sit close to these events.
Agave Cocina & Tequilas is the closest match for the McMenamins nights. It's at 18505 Bothell Way NE, Suite 103, just down Bothell Way from Anderson School. What Now Seattle reported in January that owner Federico Ramos was bringing his contemporary Mexican restaurant to Bothell as its third location. The restaurant's own site now lists Bothell as open, with weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and happy hour twice a day, 2 to 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. to close. Hours run until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, which works for Halloween weekend.
Saigon 6 is a Vietnamese restaurant run by Kane and Kyle Hwang at 9924 NE 185th St., Suite 101, according to What Now Seattle's March report. By June, The Seattle Times included it in a roundup of new Eastside restaurants serving customers. The same roundup listed Fresh Cups, a new Bothell café serving Vietnamese coffee and green tea.
Indus Indian Restaurant & Bar opened this year at 3922 148th St. SE, Suite 111, after What Now Seattle reported in February that it planned to open by late February. It's not downtown, but it now offers dine-in, pickup and delivery.
One more is still unconfirmed. What Now Seattle reported on September 11 that Aamrai Indian Kitchen & Bar, founded by Rupesh and Archana Naik, was aiming to open in Bothell in the second week of October. The Bothell address hadn't been announced. As of today, Aamrai's website still lists only its Seattle location on Bellevue Avenue.
Halloween Weekend Is Also a Freeway Weekend
The Washington State Department of Transportation is rebuilding I-405 through Bothell as part of the I-405/Brickyard to SR 527 Improvement Project. That means full weekend closures this fall. The first one closed all southbound lanes from SR 527 to SR 522 from Friday night, October 9, until 4 a.m. this morning, Monday, October 12.
The next southbound closure is planned for October 30 to November 2, the same weekend as Trick-or-Treat on Main Street and the McMenamins family event. A northbound closure follows November 6 to 9. The city says details for both will be shared as they become available, so the dates could still change. During the October 9 closure, the city warned that local streets would probably see more traffic from signed detours, along with severe regional delays. WSDOT's project page is where confirmed details will be posted. If you're driving downtown on the evening of October 30, check it that week.
What the City Is Planning for the Rest of the Block
In June, the City Council approved buying the two commercial parcels next to Triangle Junction. One is 10015 Main Street, the former Gallo De Oro restaurant, which the city said had been vacant since 2020 and was deteriorating. The other is 10007 Main Street, home of the Baskin-Robbins, which the city said would stay open. Baskin-Robbins' store locator still lists the Main Street shop.
The city's stated plan is to combine both parcels with the Triangle Junction lot into one larger site. It wants to attract development partners and expects to recover the purchase cost through a future sale or partnership that supports downtown housing, local businesses and public space. No timeline, developer or design has been announced. Meanwhile, the city is collecting public input on an update to the Downtown Subarea Plan at engagebothell.com. For this fall and holiday season, the corner is still a plaza with shops, food trucks, seating and six new murals.
At The WC Group, we keep up with changes on corners like Main and Bothell Way because they shape what living downtown feels like day to day. If you own a home near Bothell's core and want to know how this year's downtown activity shows up in what homes are selling for, ask us for your free home valuation. We'll use Bothell numbers.
