From Denver down to Highlands Ranch, Broadway is a vital artery to the metro area – serving both as a central economic district and a passageway for daily commutes.

The Broadway Corridor Study, an effort spearheaded by the City of Littleton, aims to examine existing and future conditions of transportation, land use and economics along the 11 miles of the corridor from I-25 to Highlands Ranch Parkway.

“The goal of this study is to come up with a cohesive vision,” said Shane Roberts, Littleton’s transportation planner. “When we say cohesive, we don't mean necessarily the same thing for every jurisdiction or every stretch of Broadway, but thinking about it all together… As Broadway transitions, how do we make sure that different land uses and transportation facilities that we have transition appropriately too?”

The draft goals of the study are to examine safety, connectivity, mobility, placemaking, economic development and sustainability along the corridor.

Littleton is working with regional partners including Englewood, Centennial, the city and county of Denver, Arapahoe County, Douglas County, the Denver Regional Council of Governments, the Regional Transportation District and the Colorado Department of Transportation on the study.

Data collection

Last fall, Littleton hired a design consultant to start the data collection step of the process, Roberts said.

“So looking at: What (is) the existing transportation on the corridor?,” Roberts said. “What's the existing land use? What are any existing environmental issues or historic issues, because those would be important if we go to look for federal funding in the future.”

Project team members also considered the goals and visions of each of the jurisdictions along the corridor during this step of the process, Roberts said.

In addition, they gathered community feedback through an interactive webpage where visitors could examine maps, see graphics and provide ideas on land use, transit elements, bicycle and pedestrian facilities and road and lane widths.

Narrowing down the ideas

The team is now beginning to narrow down some potential concepts from their data collection phase, which they will later present to the public for more feedback.

“We’re really desiring public input on this,” Roberts said. “We really want to encourage people to take part in that because we want to develop a plan that really is birthed out of the ideas and the desires for Broadway from our residents and our business owners.”

Roberts said specific considerations for Broadway may include improving bicycle facilities and pedestrian environments, two issues that a significant amount of public feedback has addressed.

“Just thinking about how we provide a space for people to walk and bike, not just travel by car, on Broadway is a big focus,” he said.

Jim Katzer, the transportation division manager at Arapahoe County, said his team is also interested in considering transit along the corridor as part of the project.

“There's this transit component, how is the transit services along Broadway being realized and is there a bigger need?” he said.

Katzer said he hopes information from the Broadway Corridor Study will help inform an upcoming transit and multimodal study that the county hopes to kick off this fall.

Costs and next steps

The Broadway Corridor Study costs $1,000,000 total, with 80% of the project grant-funded through the Transportation Improvement Program from the Denver Regional Council of Governments. Littleton is covering the rest of the project cost with capital improvement funds afforded by ballot measure 3A from 2021.

Roberts said the team hopes to have a prioritized list of potential projects for future grant funding by the end of the study. They also have some grant money from set aside for early action projects or creating engineering designs that can be used for future grant applications, Roberts said.

The team hopes to finish the study by late 2023 or early 2024, he said.

As the study continues, updates will be posted online for feedback. Residents who want to ask questions before the next public engagement point can contact Roberts at (303) 795-3830.