Broomfield council selects 116th Avenue for proposed Colorado Connector rail station
The 10-0 vote makes 116th Avenue the planning location and preserves eligibility for estimated future rail funding, but commits the city to neither construction nor local spending.
Broomfield City Council voted 10-0 on Aug. 11 to select 116th Avenue as the planning location for a proposed Colorado Connector rail station, replacing 116th Avenue and Flatiron as competing options under earlier consideration.
The council meeting recording shows that the vote approved Resolution 2026-86. The resolution supports the Front Range Passenger Rail District’s station narrative for a site near 116th Avenue and the BNSF Railway, close to Wadsworth Boulevard. It establishes that location as the current planning assumption for both the proposed Joint Service and a future permanent Front Range Passenger Rail station.
The action preserves Broomfield’s eligibility for estimated local-return funding of $2.75 million a year, or $68.75 million over 25 years. The city’s meeting packet explains that the estimate includes a 10% incentive above a base allocation of $2.5 million annually. The funding would depend on approval of a future Front Range Passenger Rail ballot measure and other eligibility conditions; no money was awarded through the vote.
The resolution is nonbinding. It does not approve construction, final design, local funding, property acquisition, a specific parking site, station ownership or maintenance, or a future intergovernmental agreement. Future commitments involving funding, property, parking, design or infrastructure would require additional council action after public meetings. The resolution also says Broomfield would not be obligated to cover a gap between projected and actual costs.
The proposed starter station would include a 370-foot passenger platform, track work, lighting, electrical and security equipment, fencing, retaining walls, canopies, windscreens and ADA access. A continuous accessible sidewalk would connect the existing U.S. 36 Broomfield Station pedestrian bridge to the future platform, linking it with the U.S. 36 bus rapid-transit station and RTD’s Flatiron Flyer service.
A preliminary estimate put platform infrastructure within the BNSF right-of-way at about $5.62 million, including design, permitting, construction and contingency. That is not the project’s total cost. Parking, property acquisition, connections outside the railroad right-of-way and other local infrastructure costs remain unresolved.
Staff identified unfunded Broomfield responsibilities including sidewalk gaps on the north side of 116th Avenue, Wadsworth Boulevard and Coleman’s Way, along with a possible grade-separated connection or underpass for people walking or biking to the east side of the tracks. Future local-return funds could help pay for those improvements if the ballot measure passes.
The project also depends on negotiations with BNSF, technical and engineering work, property and parking decisions, and other approvals. The packet anticipates that the Colorado Transportation Investment Office could own, operate and maintain station parking and related assets, but says final responsibilities would be defined through later design and agreements.