East Colfax’s First BRT Section Shifts Boarding to Center Platforms Sept. 27

East Colfax’s first completed bus-rapid-transit section reaches its operating milestone September 27. According to RTD’s opening notice, Routes 15 and 15L begin using center bus-only lanes between Broadway and Colorado Boulevard, with riders boarding at center platforms. The change affects people riding the bus, driving the street and visiting corridor businesses.

RTD says construction on this section is complete and fencing and barrels will be removed. Denver describes the reopened stretch as its final street configuration: two bus lanes in the center and passenger vehicles in the outer lanes.

Boarding and street access

RTD says drivers may turn left only where a turn lane and signal arrow are provided. It also identifies free, time-limited two-hour parking zones along Colfax and side streets. Riders on the new section continue paying at the front door of the bus; RTD’s September 8 update says off-board fare collection is part of the full project, rather than this first stage.

The final September service changes reach beyond the new platforms. RTD is discontinuing Route 15’s western segment serving Decatur•Federal, rerouting Route 15L to Union Station and rerouting Route 10 to Decatur•Federal to provide a downtown connection in place of the discontinued segment.

The rest of the corridor

The Broadway-to-Colorado section is one part of a planned 8.5-mile line extending to I-225. RTD’s $280 million figure covers the entire project, not this completed stretch. The agency projects corridor construction finishing around the end of 2027, with full service planned for late 2027 or early 2028. For now, the center-platform boarding and rebuilt street layout apply to the finished section.