A major bus project in Denver’s East Colfax corridor is in its final design stages, with the bidding and construction process set to start next year, transportation officials said.

Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure held a community webinar on Thursday to discuss the latest updates in the East Colfax Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which began in 2020 and is scheduled to be completed by 2027.

The project will include three sections of bus rapid transit taking riders along East Colfax Avenue from Denver Union Station to Colfax Station in Aurora.

The first section, from Union Station to Civic Center Station, is a 1.4-mile side-running bus route. It then connects with the second section from Broadway to Yosemite, which is a 5.5-mile center-running rapid route. The third section, from Yosemite to I-225/R-Line in Aurora, is a 3-mile mixed flow route.

The vision is to move people more efficiently, safely and sustainably along East Colfax, which is a major arterial road running east to west through Denver and Aurora, said project director Jonathan Steward.

Stewart said the project will accrue social, economic and environmental benefits: The new transit route will give people more reliable and sustainable travel options, support more vibrant, walkable and connected neighborhoods, save people money and time, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Earlier this year, the project got a high rating from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and reached 60% design progress, officials said. The next steps involve requesting final FTA funding approval and seeking grant funding, officials added. 

By May, officials hope to finish the design process and begin construction by the third quarter of 2024, Steward said.

Some recent design updates include the selection of a color palate for the project’s logo and several safety enhancements, James Moore, the project’s design leader, said.

Since the last update, the design team has added extra safety and comfort features to bus stops, including adjusting lighting and adding minor changes to the bus stop feature itself for better accessibility.

The design team also added new visual elements to bus stops, including a canopy with glass panels that will have different pieces of art at each stop, Moore said. The team is working with Denver Parks and Venues to fill those art spaces.

At intersections, the design team has also worked on enhancing pedestrian and bike crossings, adding safety features, such as protected left turn lanes, additional pedestrian lighting and curb extensions, he said.

Nick Vanderkwaak, who oversees traffic and safety analyses for the project, listed several preliminary recommendations for the design team based on data collection.

The recommendations included adding metered parking to Colfax between Broadway and Colorado Boulevard, time limits to side street parking and flex zones for loading on streets adjacent to Colfax.

Vanderkwaak’s safety team is asking for feedback on the safety recommendations and plans on the project website, which includes an interactive map where people can add pins with recommendations in places they think need safety enhancements.

Charlie Alexander, who is with the engineering consulting company Fehr and Peers, said their team conducted a safety analysis identifying high-crash locations, as well, and reviewed five years of crash data, engineering safety analytics, and held field observations during peak travel times.

The team found that the project as-is has a lot of safety benefits in an area that is “historically part of the city’s high-injury network,” he said.

The team recommended adding additional turn arrows to mitigate vehicle-pedestrian crashes, enhance design elements to mitigate wrong-turn and red-light crashes, and change signal timing to manage travel speeds and minimize pedestrian delay.

The team also launched a separate analysis of parallel corridors to Colfax.

Marcy Loughran of Kraemer North America, which was recently selected as the project’s construction company, said it is in the pre-construction phase, meaning the group is learning and gathering information about the project and area it will affect.

No matter what phase of construction it is in, there will always be at least one lane open to traffic in each direction on Colfax, Loughran said.

The construction principles also included maintaining access to all businesses along the route during the work, ensuring there is a safety buffer between workers and drivers, posting appropriate signage for wayfinding, and enforcing parking policies for construction vehicles.

“Over the next several months we’ll be listening, learning and planning every detail of the work and identify potential impacts associated with this work,” Loughran said. “We’re committed to being a good partner and a good neighbor.”

While Kraemer will do what it can to maintain access to businesses, there is still always a traffic issue and revenue decrease for businesses in construction zones, Joanne Greek with Denver Economic Development and Opportunity said.

To help small Denver businesses mitigate the disruption from the construction, Greek pointed to the array of tips and tools, preparation materials, advising and other services.

Elena Vasconez with the South Metro Small Business Development Center pointed to similar resources for businesses in Aurora. The city provides tools, consultants, connections to micro-lenders and financial organizations and other services.

More data are available on the project website, including information about upcoming public meetings.

In the next several months, project leaders will host an open house for residents, where they can talk to leaders and ask questions. Once scheduled, the information about the open house will be on the project website.