Driving You Crazy: Why are you allowed to use the crosswalk on one side of 120th and Chase and not the other?

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Jeananne from Broomfield writes, “Hey Jayson, on 120th and Chase in Broomfield why are you allowed to use the crosswalk only on one side of the street and not the other? Why is that?”

It is all about safety as this is a dangerous intersection. The new single north/south pedestrian crossing across 120^th Ave. on the west side of Chase Street came after Broomfield’s 2025 Transportation Safety Action Plan found a change could make the crossing safer. The intersection was transformed just last summer. If you look at Google Street View, you will still see the old layout with a crosswalk on the east and west sides of Chase across 120^th. Now, there is only a crosswalk on the west side.

Broomfield Public Works told me the east side north/south crosswalk across 120th, along with the east/west crosswalk on the south side of 120th, were removed primarily to reduce the number of vehicle-pedestrian conflict points at both the 120th intersection and across the 120th Ave. Frontage Road.

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“During project development, field observations indicated that pedestrians frequently crossed on the east side of the intersection and then proceeded south to unlawfully cross the 120th Avenue Frontage Road outside a designated crossing location. Consolidating pedestrian crossings to the west side of this unconventional intersection improves predictability and reduces the potential for conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians, improving safety,” Broomfield Public Works said.

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This is a unique intersection with a main road and a frontage road where the vast majority of vehicle traffic from the 120th Ave. Frontage Road travels eastbound from the Chase intersection. I’m told that moving the pedestrian crossing to the west side of Chase provides the most direct pedestrian path to the bus stops on 120^th and to the businesses on either side of 120^th.

This intersection sees about 40,750 vehicles passing through here every day. There are also a high number of crashes. Just in the past 3 years, there have been 37 rear-end crashes reported and in the September, 2025 Broomfield Transportation Safety Action Plan, this intersection was listed in the top ten for Excess Crash Cost. On average, the yearly crashes that happen here have an expected crash value of $146,345.

Broomfield police posted in 2019 that this intersection was the top intersection in Broomfield for crashes. They cited distracted driving, along with drivers failing to yield while turning left onto 120^th as the reason for the collisions. Several people who posted comments cited speeding as a major problem on 120^th. I can verify that after spending time there getting video for this story and using the crosswalk several times.

One other benefit here is with the removal of the eastern pedestrian crossing, a dedicated northbound right-turn lane on Chase was added. That has improved traffic flow and movement by reducing queueing on the Frontage Road. It also increased vehicle storage capacity on this short section of Chase from four to approximately nine vehicles.

Ultimately, this new configuration aims to improve safety for pedestrians and drivers.

Denver7 Traffic Expert Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 25 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or listen to his award winning Driving You Crazy podcast on any podcast app including iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Podbean, or YouTube.