A semi-truck collided with a vehicle near E. 96th Avenue and Walden Street in Commerce City on Monday afternoon, sending two people to the hospital with injuries that remained unknown as crews worked the scene. Emergency responders closed E. 96th Avenue in both directions between Walden Street and Reunion Parkway while they investigated and worked to clear the roadway.
The Commerce City Police Department said responders were dispatched to the scene Monday and urged the public to avoid the area around 96th Street and Walden while the investigation continued. Two people were transported to the hospital, though police had not released details on the severity of their injuries as of the department’s update.
A Corridor Already Under Scrutiny
The crash landed on a stretch of roadway that city officials have flagged as uniquely dangerous. E. 96th Avenue is designated a high-traffic hazard route under Commerce City municipal code, a status that triggers mandatory doubled fines for traffic violations along the corridor, according to the City of Commerce City. The intersection sits near the master-planned Reunion neighborhood, where growth tied to developments including Rocky Vista High School has added commuter traffic on top of an already established freight route.
That mix of heavy trucks and residential drivers isn’t accidental. Commerce City Council approved a Transportation Master Plan in February while rejecting a proposal to strip E. 96th Avenue from the city’s designated commercial truck route network. City traffic studies found that rerouting heavy trucks off the corridor would cause severe gridlock on nearby 104th and 120th Avenues, leaving the arterial as one of the few paths built to handle both semis and neighborhood traffic at once.
Widening Project and Signal Upgrades Underway
The crash also comes amid an active construction effort along the same stretch. The city’s E. 96th Avenue Widening Project broke ground in March 2025 and is slated for completion in December 2026, an effort meant to expand roadway capacity along the corridor. Separately, as part of its Safe Streets Initiative, the city has scheduled a full replacement of the traffic signal at E. 96th Avenue and Reunion Parkway/Telluride Street, with the new signal expected to be operating by October…