Commerce City unveils data-driven safety action plan, highlights crash hotspots and next steps

Commerce City staff presented an initial Safety Action Plan (SAP) that uses crash and systemic road-geometry data from 2019–2023 to prioritize locations for safety improvements and to guide future funding requests under the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program.

“Safety Action Plan is a comprehensive safety plan that is aimed to reduce and eliminate serious injury and fatal crashes that affect all roadway users,” Interim Public Works Director Jenna (last name not specified in the record) told council. She said staff focused on arterials and collectors because those facilities account for the majority of killed or severely injured (KSI) crashes in the city.

Staff described an extensive engagement program in phase one: two open houses in summer 2024, more than 12,300 mailed flyers, five pop-up events, social media outreach and a MetroQuest online survey that generated over 800 comments. Stakeholders included school districts, Adams County, the fire district and the police department.

Key findings from the staff presentation: - Crash data period: 2019–2023; total crashes declined year over year, but severity increased. - Vehicle-bicycle and vehicle-pedestrian collisions accounted for roughly 15% of KSI incidents in the period reviewed. - About 70% of crashes occurred during daytime hours, though crashes during winter conditions remain significant. - Rear-end collisions were the most common crash type in Commerce City; broadside collisions also contributed to severity.

Staff combined crash locations with a systemic analysis of roadway characteristics (lanes, speeds, presence of crossings, etc.) to produce a risk map and identify the top eight priority road segments for first-round interventions. The city’s consultants will use Federal Highway Administration guidance to select countermeasures—examples discussed included rectangular rapid flashing beacons, protected bicycle facilities, medians, targeted speed reductions, red-light safety cameras, and retroreflective signal backplates.

Jenna said the SAP is meant to support future grant funding: “This study was funded through the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program. After the plan comes to fruition, staff will seek additional funding through that same grant program to help implement the projects,” she said.

Councilmembers asked several implementation questions. One asked whether CDOT or other jurisdictions’ roads were included; staff said the city shared data with the Denver Regional Council of Governments and CDOT and that some high-speed corridors that fall under state jurisdiction are included in the analysis so they can be part of regional coordination. Another councilmember urged looking at side streets and 20-mph neighborhood concepts; staff noted the SAP focused on higher-injury arterials and collectors while traffic calming and the city’s annual program address lower-volume residential streets.

Next steps: staff will finalize a list of countermeasures, align the SAP with the updated transportation master plan, and prepare a draft plan for council review in May–June with a formal adoption and a resolution committing the city to Vision Zero-style reductions planned for July.

The presentation included an implementation tool: staff said a Power BI tracking platform is being developed with Adams County to monitor performance and make annual adjustments to interventions and enforcement priorities.