Colfax Reopened at Congress Park's Front Door. The Bluebird Blocks Are Waiting on the Neighbors.

"We haven't necessarily seen a large influx of people coming as a result of Colfax now being reopened." Steven Waters of FiNO at The All Inn, 3015 E. Colfax Ave., told Westword this in early October, a few days after the construction cones came down. Eleven days after that story ran, a Westword reporter walked the street and stopped for coffee at Lula Rose General Store near Madison Street. The shop was quiet, and the barista said they were still waiting for foot traffic to come back.

The stretch of Colfax from Josephine to Colorado Boulevard is the Congress Park neighborhood's north edge. The new street was designed for people who arrive on foot, and the shortest walks belong to the people who live a few blocks south of it.

What Changed on September 27

On Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, RTD's 15 and 15L buses moved into the two center lanes of East Colfax between Broadway and Colorado Boulevard. Since then, cars have used only the outer lanes. The old bus stops on each side of the street stopped service that day. Riders now board from center platforms that are about six blocks apart. Each one has a large white arch over it. The Denver Gazette reported that RTD is running 14 buses an hour between the two routes, so one arrives every four to five minutes.

The city's design plans put four center stations on the Congress Park stretch:

Each canopy carries public art. Koco Collab designed the art for Josephine/York and Madison. Access Gallery and Matt Maclean have pieces at the Colorado station.

Getting around in a car follows a few new rules. There is one through lane in each direction. According to the city's East Colfax BRT project page, left turns are allowed only on a green arrow at intersections that have a left-turn lane. Parallel parking next to the center stations has been removed. The city told Denver7 that about 180 spaces remain between Broadway and Colorado. The Denver Gazette reports new free two-hour parking zones on Colfax and the side streets. For now, riders still board at the front door and pay on the bus. Ticket machines on the platforms and boarding at both doors come with the Lynx service. RTD expects Lynx once the full line to I-225 is finished, around the end of 2027.

The Bluebird Blocks, Address by Address

Going west to east, here is what each business on the stretch has said about the fall, or what it opened with:

In this half mile, three new businesses are sitting next to the ones that made it through two years of lane closures.

Three Openings on Either Side of the Reopening

Construction on East Colfax started in October 2024. Two of the three new businesses on this stretch opened while the street was still fenced. The third opened in the first weeks after the center lanes went live.

Enzo's Brick Oven Pizza came first, in August, in the space long known as Enzo's End. Westword reported that the new owner is Simon Campari, who comes from Milan and has worked in local restaurants for more than two decades. His pizza is hand-tossed and New York style, with a thicker crust than the old Enzo's thin pies. House pizzas include The Enzo, with pepperoni, salami and capicola, and The Godfather, with prosciutto, capicola, cherry peppers and hot honey. The menu also has calzones, pinza sandwiches, subs, and pastas such as penne alla vodka and baked ziti. The PS Lounge is attached, and the Bluebird Theater is a short walk away. When the story ran, Enzo's was open from 4 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Sweet Time opened at 3107 E. Colfax in September, according to Westword's September openings roundup. Its online ordering page lists hours of 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday and 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. It is closed on Tuesday.

Dragon Cactus opened at 3014 E. Colfax in October, just after the center lanes went live, according to Westword's October roll call. Westword described its menu as Asian and Mexican fusion, with teriyaki al pastor, bulgogi carne asada and lemongrass chicken.

Waters made a related point in the same Westword roundup. He said most of the businesses that replaced closures on Colfax are still local and independent rather than national chains. On the Bluebird blocks, the three fall openings match that description.

The Holdovers Are Counting on Repeat Visits

The businesses that stayed open through construction are less sure the reopening alone will bring customers back. A few days after the switch, Bo Porytko of Molotov Kitschen & Cocktails told Westword that "it's way too quick to tell anything," and that "it's going to take a decent amount of time for people to start coming back to Colfax." FiNO told Westword on Oct. 2 that it had not seen a large influx, and Lula Rose described the same wait in Westword's Oct. 13 street report.

Frank Locantore leads the Colfax Business Improvement District, which runs west of York. He told Westword in that Oct. 13 report that businesses and pedestrians have had a "reduction in mental anguish." He also said the street is entering "a new phase. It's not about survival; it's about re-engaging and bringing people back."

What the business owners described is a gap between when the street reopened and when customers started showing up again.

The New Street Rewards the Short Walk

The redesign changed what it is like to walk along Colfax, and that matters most to people who live within a few blocks of it. In Westword's walking account, the stretch from Colorado Boulevard west had level new concrete, trash cans on every block, freshly painted crosswalks, and new pedestrian buttons. Some crossings have a second button on the median. Several blocks have newly planted trees. Waiting riders now stand on the center platforms, so they no longer crowd the sidewalk. Businesses have started putting out signs and chairs for walk-in customers.

Driving is slower than walking. One through lane and more red lights for pedestrians can slow rush-hour trips. Westword's driver still called the layout simple in practice: stay in one lane and wait for a designated turn lane. For bus riders, the center stations add one step. You have to cross the street to reach the platform, and if your bus pulls in while you're waiting for the walk signal, you can miss it.

Put together, these changes make walking the easiest way to reach the Bluebird blocks. Someone walking up Fillmore, Elizabeth or Madison from the south avoids the turn-lane rules and the hunt for parking.

The Colfax Calendar Through December

The district has already held its fall events. On Sept. 26, the day before buses moved to the center lanes, the Bluebird Bodega Super Block Party took over 12 blocks of Colfax. The 20th annual Boo and Brew ran from Monroe to Elizabeth. The holiday dates coming up are run along greater Colfax, and most are west of York:

• Rainbow Socks Nature Tour, Saturday, Nov. 28. It starts near the Cathedral Basilica and heads toward Champagne Tiger.
• Bag of Colfax, Nov. 28 through Dec. 16. Sales open on Small Business Saturday. The Colfax Ave BID says the bags hold local products and gift cards to Colfax businesses. Pickup is at The Learned Lemur through Dec. 23.
• Adam Cayton-Holland on Colfax, Saturday, Dec. 5, at Pete's Satire Lounge, 1920 E. Colfax.
• Kerri en Fuego, Thursday, Dec. 10, at The Learned Lemur, 2220 E. Colfax.

The Bluebird blocks themselves will be open every night of the season, about four to five minutes apart by bus and a short walk up any north-south street from the park.

Kelli Barton follows Congress Park's edges the same way she follows its blocks of homes, from one storefront to the next. To get new Congress Park listings when they come up, along with notes on what's changing on Colfax, sign up with Kelli Barton to Receive Exclusive Listings in Your Inbox.