The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has dropped plans for center-running bus lanes on Colorado Boulevard. It wants to improve sidewalks and intersections first, and will reassess other bus rapid transit (BRT) options starting in 2028.
The reassessment is to draw on data from how BRT performs on Colfax Avenue. CDOT said in a statement that the project requires further study, taking into account data from other BRT corridors, including Colfax Avenue. The additional review is to begin in 2028.
CDOT’s plan calls for upgrading intersections at Bruce Randolph Avenue, Sixth and Seventh avenues, First Avenue, Florida Avenue, Mississippi Avenue and 35th Avenue.
The agency has set aside $21 million for Colorado Boulevard from CDOT’s 10-year plan, but the money will not be available until fiscal year 2031. CDOT cautions that the amount will not cover all of the planned improvements. The agency intends to seek grants and to ask the Denver Sidewalk Enterprise Fund to include this stretch among its priorities.
The decision has satisfied neither side of the dispute. Transit advocates believe CDOT acted too soon. A coalition that includes Denver Streets Partnership, CoPIRG, SWEEP, Greater Denver Transit and the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition, among others, has criticized the move.
On the other side, residents of several Denver neighborhoods are forming a coalition that questions whether BRT makes sense on Colorado Boulevard. Its leaders include former state Sen. Penfield Tate III and resident Dana Busch. According to the organizers, CDOT officials first agreed to attend a meeting with residents but backed out Tuesday evening. CBS Colorado asked CDOT about it and was told that state offices were closed for Veterans Day.
It was previously reported that construction of BRT on Colorado Boulevard would not begin before 2030. For residents, that means dedicated bus lanes will not be built any time soon, and the changes will mainly involve sidewalks and intersections.
Source: Denver Post
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