Driving west on Colfax from Aurora still means lane closures, fencing and orange cones. Once you cross Colorado Boulevard, the road is newly repaved and painted and the sidewalks are open again. Westword described the change as a movie going from black and white to color all at once. Two years of construction between Broadway and Colorado ended on Friday, Sept. 25, and the bus lanes opened two days later.
For Congress Park, that finished street is the neighborhood's north edge, from York Street to Colorado Boulevard. The fall events planned to mark the reopening are mostly happening west of here. On this stretch, nearly all of them sit within about two blocks of the Bluebird Theater.
Most of the Celebration Is West of York
The Colfax Ave Business Improvement District is marking the end of construction with a fall series called Anything Can Happen on Colfax. It runs from Oct. 8 to Dec. 10 and lists 19 dated entries. Most are at addresses below the 2300 block, which puts them west of York. They include Champagne Tiger at 601 E. Colfax, Satellite Bar at 308 E. Colfax, The Learned Lemur at 2220 E. Colfax and DNVR Bar at 2239 E. Colfax.
Only five entries reach the 2300 to 4000 blocks, the Congress Park side of Colfax. One is a dumpling night that includes Ma's Kitchen Dim Sum & Bar at Colfax and York. The other four fall between 3213 and 3424 E. Colfax, the cluster of blocks around the Bluebird that the series' Halloween listing calls the Bluebird District.
The Bluebird Blocks Carry the Fall Calendar
This post goes live on Thursday, Oct. 22, which is also the night of one of the events. Here is what is left in the series on this stretch, plus a few nearby dates from the venues' own calendars.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Oct. 22 | Colfax Grubhop: $1 Slice Night | Atomic Cowboy/Fat Sully's, 3237 E. Colfax, and Enzo's Pizza, 3424 E. Colfax |
| Tue., Oct. 27, 6:30 p.m. | Otaku Tuesday | Sie FilmCenter, 2510 E. Colfax |
| Sat., Oct. 31, 1–4 p.m. | 20th Annual Boo & Brew | Starts at Hooked on Colfax, 3213 E. Colfax |
| Wed., Nov. 4 | Colfax Grubhop: Dunks & Dumplings | Ma's Kitchen Dim Sum & Bar, Colfax and York |
| Thu., Nov. 5 | Science Riot | Cerebral Brewing–Congress Park, 1477 Monroe St. |
| Sat., Nov. 7, 6 p.m. | Get Hitched: Vegas Style | Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax |
| Sat., Nov. 7, 7 p.m. | Adventures of a Lost Film | Sie FilmCenter, 2510 E. Colfax |
| Wed., Nov. 18, doors 8 p.m. | Strange Brews | Goosetown Tavern, 3242 E. Colfax |
Saturday, Oct. 31 is the family afternoon. The BID page calls Boo & Brew "the original Colfax block party for kids," with costumes, candy, live entertainment and stops at participating businesses. It starts at Hooked on Colfax and is free for kids.
Nov. 7 is the busiest night on the stretch. At the Bluebird, Elvis impersonator Aaron Black plays three hours of Elvis songs and legally marries couples on stage between sets. The BID lists the event as all ages and invites married and single guests alike. An hour later and a few blocks west, Sie FilmCenter is showing Adventures of a Lost Film. The Science Riot listing for Nov. 5 at Cerebral Brewing on Monroe Street still says the time and other details are "coming soon."
Tattered Cover's Colfax store at 2526 E. Colfax isn't part of the series. Its TC Lit Club meets on third Tuesdays, starting at 5:30 p.m. with discussion at 6. The November pick is "Circe," on Nov. 17, and the December pick is "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," on Dec. 15.
These Blocks Kept Opening Businesses Through Construction
The blocks around the Bluebird kept adding businesses while the street was torn up. In October 2025, the former Middleman bar space at 3401 E. Colfax reopened as The Lowbeam, according to Westword. Japon was open at 3550 E. Colfax by early November 2025, Westword reported. In March 2026, the All Inn Hotel at 3015 E. Colfax held its grand opening on March 26, eight days after its restaurant, FiNO, opened on March 18, the Denver Post reported. Bastien's is still at 3503 E. Colfax.
The numbers for the wider corridor tell a similar story. Frank Locantore, executive director of the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District, told the Denver Post in September 2026 that the strip was 84% occupied, the same rate as before construction began, even though businesses opened and closed along the way. He also said few closures could be traced directly to the project. According to the same report, the city gave grants to 152 businesses affected by construction, totaling nearly $2 million.
Some owners say the recovery will take time. Bo Porytko of Molotov Kitschen & Cocktails, west of York, told Westword a few days after the lanes opened that "the traffic's actually still pretty bad" and that he expects it to take "a decent amount of time for people to start coming back to Colfax." Locantore said the end of construction would be welcomed "with a great sigh of relief."
Getting to the Bluebird Works Differently Now
The street reopened with different rules. Since Sept. 27, 2026, routes 15 and 15L run in the two center lanes between Broadway and Colorado and stop at center platforms. Other traffic uses the outer lanes. Here is what the city has published about the changes. The full, current rules are on the City of Denver's East Colfax BRT project page.
- Left turns: The city's notice for the bus-only lanes says drivers can turn left off Colfax only where there is a left-turn lane and a green arrow.
- Navigation apps: The Denver Post reported that Google Maps and other apps have sent drivers to left turns that no longer exist. The city says it is working with Waymo, Apple and Google to update their routing.
- Parking: The Denver Post reported that the project added free two-hour parking zones on side streets along Colfax. Corridor-wide, the city estimates that about 300 of 970 on-street spaces between Broadway and Yosemite will be removed as BRT is put in place.
Less curbside parking and more turn restrictions make the bus a more practical way to reach the Bluebird blocks than before. The city's station art list names three stations on Congress Park's edge: Josephine/York, Madison and Colorado. The canopy art at Josephine/York and Madison is by Koco Collab. The art at Colorado Station is by Access Gallery and includes work by Matt Maclean on the westbound platform. The art is paid for by the project's 1% for public art requirement. Denverite reported that some older stops between Broadway and Colorado were dropped when the center stations opened. RTD says this makes the routes faster, though some stops are now less convenient. Before relying on a familiar curb stop, check the current Route 15 schedule.
East of Colorado, Construction Starts Next
Congress Park's edge is finished, but the project isn't. The Denver Post reported that the next phase of construction will soon start on Colfax between Colorado Boulevard and Niagara Street. The city expects construction, testing and commissioning for the full project to continue through 2027. When the work is done, routes 15 and 15L will be replaced by the Colfax Lynx, with new buses, ticket machines and real-time arrival displays, according to Denverite.
Until then, the open stretch ends at Colorado Boulevard. If you're coming from the east, the cones begin at the boulevard. From inside Congress Park, the walk up to the Bluebird is clear.
If you have questions about how the Colfax changes affect daily life or plans on your block in Congress Park, The Harris Team Denver is glad to talk them through with you. Contact Us whenever it's convenient.
