160th & Huron Turn Lanes
This project is complete! Thank you for your patience.
Background Information
DeFalco Construction, Inc., the contractor for the 160th and Huron Turn Lanes Project, mobilized onto the project site on April 29, 2020.
In 2014 the West 160th Avenue and Huron Street intersection ranked number one in crash frequency for Broomfield maintained intersections. The City then installed a traffic signal in 2016, which significantly reduced the number of accidents, however, traffic volumes through this intersection have increased by 48% since the signal was installed. The intersection remains the 16th location for crash rate for Broomfield maintained intersections.
Broomfield continues to receive more calls and emails, both from Broomfield residents and residents of surrounding areas, with concerns about this intersection, than any other intersection in the City. There are significant delays and traffic queues that currently exist at the intersection during peak a.m. and p.m. traffic hours. These backups frequently result in substantial delays at the intersection with traffic not being able to go through the intersection in one cycle.
The intent of the improvements is to ease congestion and reduce accidents at the intersection during peak traffic hours. The project includes improvements to add separate turning lanes in all directions of the intersection. This includes installation of separate northbound left and right turn lanes with a through lane on Huron Street; a separate southbound left-turn lane with a shared right-through on Huron Street; a separate westbound left-turn lane with a shared right-through on West 160th Avenue; and separate eastbound left and right turn lanes with a through lane on West 160th and traffic signal adjustments to accommodate these additional lanes.
Vehicles going through the intersection would no longer need to wait behind left-turning vehicles, which reduces delays and reduces the potential for both rear-end and broadside crashes. There is also an important safety benefit to the provision of left‐turn lanes, particularly at the relatively high posted speed (45 mph) along a rural, two‐lane roadway with minimal shoulder widths. Addition of the right turn deceleration lanes in both the northbound and eastbound directions benefits the vehicles decelerating out of the through lanes and reduces the potential for rear-end type crashes.
Extraction Oil & Gas (Extraction) is responsible to construct an eastbound to southbound right turn lane at this intersection per the operator agreement. Since Broomfield is improving all legs of the intersection, staff has drafted a separate reimbursement agreement to require Extraction to contribute $112,000 as their pro-rata share. The eastbound to southbound turn lane is needed at the current traffic volumes regardless, and funding is available to proceed with the project with or without reimbursement from Extraction.
Construction of the project as designed will require a change in use of Broomfield open space to Broomfield right-of-way in order to install a right-hand turn lane from eastbound 160th Avenue to southbound Huron Street. This requires reimbursement to the City and County of Broomfield Open Space Fund.
An invitation to bid was posted to BidNet on January 8, 2020, and four contractors submitted bids. The lowest responsive bidder was DeFalco Construction Company and is recommended by staff to complete the project.