Broomfield adopts Transportation Safety Action Plan with goal of zero fatalities on city roads by 2040

Broomfield City and County Council voted to adopt the Broomfield Transportation Safety Action Plan, a data‑backed strategy that sets a vision of “no one is seriously injured or killed” on the city transportation network and a mission to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2040 and serious injuries by 2045 on Broomfield‑owned roadways.

Bryce Hammerton, the city’s transportation planner, summarized the plan’s findings: careless and distracted driving contributes to 87 percent of all crashes and 74 percent of severe‑outcome crashes; 74 percent of crashes are intersection‑related; and six crash types (fixed‑object, right‑angle, approach turn, rear‑end, pedestrian and bicycle) account for 85 percent of severe injuries. The study included outreach that yielded about 850 unique comments from stakeholders and the public.

Consultants and staff recommended a mix of infrastructure and non‑infrastructure measures. That toolbox includes prioritized road safety audits at high‑cost intersections, updated signal timing and protected phasing to reduce vehicle‑pedestrian conflicts, a crossing‑treatment guideline to standardize pedestrian crossings, a formal policy for when to use roundabouts, and further study of automated traffic enforcement (speed and red‑light cameras). The report also proposes an interagency safety coordination council, improved first‑responder crash documentation and a public dashboard showing crash trends.

Alicia Zimmerman of Fox Total Transportation Group described the FIA (fatal and injury analysis) process used to rank locations by “excess crash cost” and said staff conducted road safety audits at both Broomfield‑ and CDOT‑owned intersections to identify site‑specific countermeasures. She emphasized that some top ranked CDOT locations already have overlapping studies or improvements and recommended staff stay engaged with CDOT projects rather than duplicate work.

Council members asked for annual dashboard reporting and interim milestones. Councilmember Leslie recommended interim metrics toward the 2040/2045 goals so progress can be measured; staff said an annual report and a public crash dashboard will be part of implementation. Commander Wichlaz of Broomfield Police described the additional legal and policy steps required to implement automated enforcement, including a local ordinance and internal policy and vendor selection; commanders noted automated enforcement programs are designed to be self‑sustaining but require initial policy work and FTE impacts.

Councilmember Ward moved adoption of the plan; Councilmember Wynne seconded. Councilmember Delgadillo and the remaining council recorded votes and the resolution passed (recorded as passing 9–0 in the meeting record). Staff said two recommendations expected to be underway in 2026 are the crossing treatment guide and early research on automated vehicle enforcement. Funding for near‑term actions will use the city’s traffic mitigation fund (to be renamed the Traffic Safety Fund) and staff will pursue grants and prioritize larger capital projects in the CIP for higher‑cost countermeasures like roundabouts.

What’s next: staff will publish the crash dashboard, convene stakeholders through an interagency safety group, develop the pedestrian crossing guideline, study automated enforcement policy and provide annual progress reports to council.