Centennial Community Matters: Liam’s Law Brings a New Question to Smoky Hill Road

What will it take to make this stretch of road safer?

Now, a new Colorado law may add an important piece to that conversation.

The Liam Stewart School Zone Act, also known as Liam’s Law, took effect August 12. The law was named for 13-year-old Liam Stewart, who was struck and killed by a driver while riding his bicycle to Euclid Middle School in Littleton in October 2023.

Liam’s family spent the years following his death advocating for safer routes to school. That effort eventually helped produce a statewide change in how Colorado defines and manages school zones.

And that brings us back to Centennial.

A School Just Off Smoky Hill Road

Trails West Elementary School sits at 5400 S. Waco Street, immediately south of the Smoky Hill Road corridor. The Cherry Creek School District serves students in preschool through fifth grade at the school.

It is also near an area where residents have repeatedly raised concerns about serious and fatal crashes.

A community petition started by Centennial resident Beverly Bennett documents multiple fatalities in the broader Smoky Hill corridor over the past two years, including deaths near Waco and Telluride. The petition specifically raises concerns about pedestrian access, lighting, turning movements and the proximity of Trails West Elementary. Those descriptions represent the petition organizer’s account and advocacy, rather than an independent traffic-safety finding by Centennial Pulse.

Now residents are asking whether Liam’s Law changes what happens around the school.

What Liam’s Law Actually Says

The law establishes a statewide framework under which a school zone generally includes roadways within 1,000 feet of a school property boundary. It also requires appropriate school-zone signs indicating that traffic penalties and surcharges are doubled.

But there is an important wrinkle.

School zones that were already in place when the law took effect and extended more than 200 feet from the school property boundary can remain at their existing size. If an existing school zone extends less than 200 feet, however, the law says the responsible local government must increase it to at least 200 feet.

Local governments can also establish a zone shorter than the otherwise applicable 1,000 feet, but they cannot reduce it below 200 feet and must first hold a public hearing.

That distinction is important for Trails West.

Residents involved in the Smoky Hill Road safety effort say the existing school zone at Trails West extends only about 30 feet and argue that the new law should require a significant change, potentially affecting Smoky Hill Road itself.

Centennial Pulse has not independently verified that 30-foot measurement, and we have not found a published City determination showing exactly how Centennial intends to apply the new law at Trails West.

So the key question is not simply whether Liam’s Law applies.

It is:

What is the officially designated Trails West school zone today, and where will its boundaries be under the new law?

A New Door in an Older Conversation

One Centennial resident, Kevin, who says he has been working on implementation of Liam’s Law, recently commented on Bennett’s petition. He pointed specifically to Trails West and encouraged east Centennial residents concerned about Smoky Hill Road to connect with the larger school-zone safety effort.

He also stated that he had been told the City did not plan to make the change he believes the law requires.

That is a significant claim, but at this point it should be treated as exactly that: a resident’s report of his interaction with the City, not an independently confirmed City policy.

The law itself is considerably clearer.

Colorado now requires a minimum 200-foot school zone where an existing zone falls below that threshold, while creating a broader 1,000-foot framework and a public process for local governments that choose smaller zones.

CBS Colorado reported when the law took effect that its purpose was, in part, to create greater consistency around school zones after Liam Stewart’s father found dramatically different practices from community to community.

What Happens Next Matters

This doesn't automatically resolve every question residents have raised about Smoky Hill Road.

A school-zone designation by itself is not a traffic signal, pedestrian refuge, protected crossing or redesigned intersection.

But it changes the conversation.

For Trails West families and surrounding neighborhoods, the next useful information will be very specific:

Where does Centennial say the current school zone begins and end?

Is it less than 200 feet from the school property boundary?

Will the new boundary extend onto Smoky Hill Road?

What signage or enforcement changes will follow?

And if Centennial proposes a school zone shorter than the broader 1,000-foot standard, will there be a public hearing?

Those questions can be answered with measurements, maps, law and public process.

That is progress of a different sort.

For a community that has spent months asking for another look at safety along Smoky Hill Road, Liam’s Law may not be the end of the story.

But it may have opened another door.