East Colfax Reopened From Broadway to Colorado Boulevard: What Changed

Steel arches now stand in the middle of East Colfax Avenue. Below them are raised platforms with benches, windscreens and artwork on the overhead shades, and buses pull up to them in lanes that cars can no longer use. The cones that lined the avenue for two years are gone. Westword found smooth pavement and open sidewalks on the reopened stretch, with people walking it again.

That stretch runs about 2.5 miles, from Broadway to Colorado Boulevard. The rebuild made Colfax easier to cross on foot and harder to turn onto by car. Because of that, an outing on the avenue this fall works best when you pick a group of blocks and walk it.

What the street asks of you now

Since Sunday, Sept. 27, the City of Denver's Colfax BRT project page has listed the two center lanes between Broadway and Colorado Boulevard as bus-only. Cars use the outer lanes. Denverite's guide to the new Colfax covers the rest of the changes:

• Left turns: You can turn left off Colfax only at marked intersections that have a designated left-turn lane. U-turns are allowed at those same protected intersections when it's safe. New center medians block left turns at many side streets.
• Parking: About 180 spaces line the reopened corridor, all signed for two hours. They are free for now and will become paid when full BRT service launches in 2028. Side streets also have free parking.
• Crossings: The city says it improved 27 intersections to make crossing easier for pedestrians. Riders are told to use the marked crosswalks to reach the center platforms.
• Fines: Driving in the bus-only lanes carries a $135 fine. Biking or riding a scooter in them carries a $65 fine.
• Platforms: Bikes, skateboards, scooters and pedicabs are not allowed on the stations. Buses have bike storage inside, near the rear door.

The left-turn rule makes the biggest difference for a short local trip. A drive that used to end with a quick left into a side-street spot may now take you to the next marked intersection and back. On foot, the same trip got simpler, because the crossings were rebuilt along the whole corridor. This is a summary of reported rules and is not legal advice. The city's project page and Denverite's guide have the specifics if you need to check one.

The buses are in the middle, but the full system isn't here yet

The existing RTD 15 and 15L routes already run in the center lanes. Riders board from seven center stations in each direction, built in pairs with one eastbound and one westbound platform. One of them sits at Colfax and Josephine Street. The old sidewalk stops have been removed, so there are fewer places to catch the bus than before. The platforms are raised, so you step straight onto the bus without climbing stairs.

Some of what makes this bus rapid transit hasn't arrived. According to Denverite, the stations will get off-board ticket machines, multi-door boarding and schedule displays when full service starts. RTD says buses will eventually come every 4.3 minutes. The full Lynx Colfax route is expected by January 2028, and construction is still moving east past Colorado Boulevard into Aurora. Denverite reported that this first phase is part of a $300 million project.

For roughly the next 15 months, the street is finished but the system isn't. The center lanes and crossings are built, the 15 and 15L already use them, and the two-hour spaces on the avenue cost nothing. Paid parking and faster service are both scheduled to arrive together with full BRT.

At the Sept. 28 celebration at Carla Madison Recreation Center, Mayor Mike Johnston described the goal to Denverite: "This is about reinstituting Colfax as not a place to go through, but a place to go to." The cake at that event was shaped and frosted to look like a traffic cone, and the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District's Denon Moore made it.

Three clusters, each a walk

A street you can easily cross but can't easily turn off works best a few blocks at a time. Most of this fall's openings and events on the reopened stretch fall into three groups of addresses. You can walk within each group and take the 15 or 15L between them.

The west end: the 300 to 700 blocks

This group sits close to Broadway. Satellite Bar at 308 E. Colfax hosts The Uncalled Four, a free comedy game show for ages 18 and up, on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m. Velvet Banjo at 741 E. Colfax hosts the Colfax Art Underground kickoff on Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 4 to 8 p.m., with art walks, live art and local artist vendors. It's free and open to all ages until 8 p.m., then 21 and up. On Saturday, Nov. 28, the Rainbow Socks nature tour starts near the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception at 401 E. Colfax and ends near Champagne Tiger at 601 E. Colfax. A start time hasn't been posted yet.

Nob Hill Inn at 420 E. Colfax faced a planned Sept. 30 closure. The Denver Post reported on Sept. 10 that the bar had reached its initial $15,000 fundraising goal and planned to stay open. SliceWorks at 700 E. Colfax rounds out this group and is part of the $1-slice night described below.

The middle: the 1200 to 2500 blocks

This group is the one most changed by new openings. Sadboy Creamery opened its pint shop on Sept. 19 at 1201 E. Colfax, Suite 101, according to the Denver Post. At 1818 E. Colfax, Westword listed Fresh Mex as closed in its July roundup and Neo's Latin Kitchen as a new opening at the same address in its September roundup. Farther east, at the far end of this group, Wellness Sushi at 2504 E. Colfax closed in July.

Pete's Kitchen anchors this part of the avenue. Westword's Best of Denver 2026 named it the Best Diner That Survived the Colfax Construction. The award notes that the Contos family asked for support in 2025, that the community responded, and that the diner still serves all night on weekends.

Two venues across the street from each other carry most of this group's calendar. The Learned Lemur, a curio shop at 2220 E. Colfax, hosted the reopening-night carnival. DNVR Bar is at 2239 E. Colfax, and Pete's Satire Lounge is a few blocks west at 1920 E. Colfax.

The east end: the Bluebird District, 3200 to 3400 blocks

This group has the most events on a single block. Hooked on Colfax at 3213 E. Colfax kept its regulars through the construction, which Westword described in June as hard on parking and foot traffic. It is also the starting point for the 20th annual Boo & Brew on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 1 to 4 p.m. The event is free for kids and continues through businesses in the Bluebird District. Within about two blocks you'll also find Atomic Cowboy/Fat Sully's at 3237, Goosetown Tavern at 3242, the Bluebird Theater at 3317 and Enzo's Pizza at 3424.

The calendar, cluster by cluster

Most of these dates come from the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District's Anything Can Happen on Colfax listings.

The $1-slice Thursday is the one event that covers two clusters, with SliceWorks at the west end and the other two pizza spots about 30 blocks east. The 15 and 15L cover that distance in the center lanes, boarding from the raised platforms.

The BID's annual events page also lists a Volunteer Day on Nov. 14, a Small Business Saturday Market and the third annual Holiday Tree Lighting on Nov. 28, and an Ugly Sweater Pub Crawl on Dec. 12. Times and locations for those are still marked as coming soon. On Nov. 19, participating Colfax coffee shops plan to offer free coffee to East High School students, staff and teachers. The shops haven't been named yet.

Just past Colorado Boulevard and outside the reopened stretch, Vegan Van has moved from a food truck into a storefront at 1490 Eudora St., Westword reported on Oct. 17. Construction continues east of there, while the rebuilt stretch west of Colorado Boulevard is open, and its two-hour spaces stay free until full Lynx Colfax service begins in 2028.

If you live near the avenue and are wondering how the new Colfax affects your own block, from walking to the corner to parking near your door, Lauren Trent is glad to talk through what the corridor work means for your street. Let's Connect.