Council approves 112th & Uptown construction contracts, advances Town Square BID on first reading and awards waterline contract

Broomfield City Council on March 11 approved a package of measures including construction and management contracts for the 112th & Uptown Complete Streets project, advanced a business improvement district (BID) ordinance for Broomfield Town Square on first reading and awarded a construction contract for the 2025 waterline replacement project.

The council voted unanimously (9–0) to: authorize a construction agreement with American West Construction LLC for the 112th & Uptown Complete Streets project; approve construction management and construction administration agreements with Felsburg Holt & Ullevig (FHU); pass the ordinance creating the initial Broomfield Town Square Business Improvement District on first reading (ordinance 2263) and order it published in full; and award the 2025 waterline replacement construction agreement to Diamond Contracting Corp. The council also approved the consent agenda, which included grant and construction agreements and other routine items.

Why it matters: The Complete Streets project widens a section of roadway to four lanes, adds bike lanes and a multiuse path, and includes a crossing of the BNSF railway and a connection to the US 36 Bikeway. Staff told council the project budget is roughly $7.2 million with grant funding from the Colorado Department of Transportation and DRCOG’s Safer Main Streets initiative plus local overmatch. The Town Square BID creates a financing and organizational vehicle to support future public improvements and activation in the redeveloped Town Square area. The waterline award responds to repeated main breaks and uses slip-lining technology on one corridor to limit surface disruption.

Project details and council questions: Staff described the 112th & Uptown work as roadway widening, bicycle facilities and a side path. The funding slide in staff materials showed approximately $3.5 million in federal grant funds and an overall project budget of about $7.2 million; staff warned that if federal funding were lost alternatives would include delaying or cancelling the project. Council members pressed staff on bike-safety design where the separated path narrows to on-street bike lanes near constrained locations, asking whether physical separation could be added and why some vehicle lanes are as wide as 11–13 feet. Staff said design constraints (vertical and horizontal clearance and right-of-way limits) and current engineering standards informed lane widths, and that some locations are constrained by the BNSF railroad crossing.

On the BID, staff and the developer said the initial BID boundary covers a three‑acre parcel transferred to private ownership; future expansions would come back to council as property take‑downs and development steps occur. The operating plan included a 2025–2026 budget of $50,000 and a combined maximum debt authorization (with the metropolitan district) of $104 million, with a combined debt‑service mill cap of 50 mills and an operations cap of 15 mills (both subject to legislative changes). The ordinance passed on first reading and will return for second reading later this month alongside an urban renewal plan consideration.

Waterline award: Public Works described two priority replacements this year: a 4,900‑foot run of 12‑inch ductile iron on Westlake Drive and a 20‑inch corridor along 136th Avenue that has failed repeatedly. For the 136th corridor staff recommended slip‑lining with fusible PVC (downsizing from 20