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Commerce City updates transportation master plan process; consultants propose multimodal, equity-focused review
Summary
Public works and consultants updated council on the Transportation Master Plan process, reporting DRCOG model alignment with the city's comprehensive plan, community engagement results, and next steps for draft recommendations on multimodal corridors, functional classifications and truck routes.
Jenna Hahn, interim director of public works, and consultants Jenny Young and Steph presented a status update on Commerce City's Transportation Master Plan (TMP). The project team said the TMP will update the city's 2010 plan and is intended to be a long-range, multimodal blueprint to guide capital projects, developer expectations and street design.
Consultants said they began work in mid-2024, completed a first phase of public engagement in summer/fall 2024 and are now in a second engagement phase. They reported more than 220 individual survey responses and roughly 800 location-based comments during phase one; a second mailer and pop-up events increased participation. Planners emphasized lessons learned: pop-up events and mailers drew stronger participation than single open-house sessions.
Technically, consultants said they adjusted DRCOG's regional travel-demand model land-use inputs to reflect Commerce City's adopted comprehensive plan after finding that DRCOG's default forecasts were not aligned zone-by-zone. The team then reran traffic forecasts to reflect local planned growth. The model output showed future volume-to-capacity increases on key arterials if no improvements occur; adding DRCOG's fiscally constrained projects reduced congestion on many corridors, the team said.
Consultants described system-level priorities drawn from public input: congestion relief on Tower Road and other arterials; filling sidewalk and bike-network gaps; safety at intersections and rail crossings; improved transit access and stop amenities; and interest in greener, more attractive streets. They warned that recommendations will need to balance widening, operations (signal timing), and multimodal alternatives, and said the plan will propose multimodal street strategies, bicycle/pedestrian networks and transit gaps.
The team also raised a review of the city's functional classification plan (last updated in 2010): changes to classification can affect project priorities and grant eligibility but require coordination with DRCOG and CDOT when corridors become regionally significant. Councilors raised truck-routes and truck traffic as a priority; consultants and staff said truck-route designations are separate from functional classification and that an ordinance and operational enforcement are required to change designated truck routes.
Public comment and council discussion flagged specific issues including Tower Road congestion, I-270/I-76 coordination, possible rail/rail-yard impacts in the northern growth area, curb-to-curb sidewalk gaps, and whether the plan should include more strategic coordination with state highways (CDOT) on improvements. Staff said they will continue engagement, refine recommendations and return with a draft plan for stakeholder review before a scheduled fall adoption timeline.
No vote was taken; staff said the draft plan will be presented to council in the coming months for review and adoption steps.
