As a major part of Denver Water’s Pipe Replacement Program, crews will replace more than 5 miles of 130-year-old pipe beneath East Colfax Avenue from Broadway to Yosemite Street. Denver Water will also replace any lead service lines encountered during the pipe replacement work. For more information about Denver Water’s Lead Reduction Program, visit denverwater.org/Lead.

The pipe replacement work is taking place in advance of the upcoming East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit project, which is being led by the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

The East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) will move more people more reliably and sustainably along Colfax Avenue, Denver’s busiest east west transit corridor. The project is a partnership among Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, RTD, Colorado Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit Authority and the City of Aurora.

The project includes a center-running BRT service from Broadway to Yosemite Street with a dedicated transit lane in each direction, new and enhanced transit stations, streetscape improvements and new service amenities. West of Civic Center Station to Denver Union Station, BRT will operate in the side-running transit lanes along 15th and 17th Streets. East of Yosemite to I-225, BRT will be side-running in mixed flow traffic with enhanced stations that will be coordinated with the City of Aurora.

Once implemented, the project will reduce transit travel time by 15 to 30 minutes, provide more affordable and reliable access to over 250,000 jobs and community services along the corridor, and enhance rider and pedestrian comfort and safety.

Denver Water’s pipe replacement work starts in summer 2023 and will continue through the end of 2024.

Construction on the East Colfax BRT project will begin in 2024. The East Colfax BRT is expected to be operating by January 2027.

As Denver Water’s infrastructure reaches the end of its useful life, specific pipes in need of replacement are identified to ensure our customers receive a continuous supply of high-quality water. Denver Water replaces pipes for various reasons, including repairing or avoiding breaks, replacing corroded pipe, alleviating water quality problems, increasing available hydrant flow and improving area water delivery.

Although the pipe beneath the East Colfax Avenue corridor does not have a significant break history, this aging underground infrastructure needs to be replaced before the above-ground BRT is constructed. As part Denver Water’s Pipe Replacement Project, crews will dig a trench to install the new pipe. These trenches will be covered each night. Crews will move from west to east and will work in two- to three-block increments at a time.

Denver Water will also replace any lead service lines encountered as a part of this project. For more information about Denver Water’s Lead Reduction Program, visit denverwater.org/Lead.

Yes. Businesses will remain open throughout construction. Denver Water will work to ensure individuals are able to safely access businesses by using flaggers.

Learn more about many of the tremendous businesses along East Colfax Avenue by visiting the partner links below:

Colfax Avenue Business Improvement District

Colfax Mayfair Business Improvement District

Bluebird Business Improvement District

Colfax On The Hill

Downtown Denver Partnership

The Fax Denver Partnership

There will be daily lane closures on East Colfax Avenue throughout the active project area. Because of the potential for delays, motorists are advised to find an alternate route. Night or weekend work may be required.

Water outages will be necessary as part of the pipe replacement work. Before any planned water outages, Denver Water will provide detailed information about the date and expected length of the outage for impacted customers, as well as ways to prepare.

While unlikely, emergency water shut-offs may also occur. In this case, crews will work directly with affected customers.
 

As part of this work, Denver Water will replace approximately 60 known or suspected lead service lines from the tap at the pipe in the road to the first brass fitting inside the home or building. If crews encounter a lead service line on your property, Denver Water will coordinate with you a time to replace the lead service line. For more information on Denver Water’s Lead Reduction Program, please visit denverwater.org/Lead.

Restoration, including asphalt, landscaping and concrete, will be completed as weather and contractor schedules allow.

We recognize you may have questions about how construction will impact your business. We have information in both English and Spanish to answers some of those questions; includes practical ideas to help minimize any inconvenience to your business; and provides direction on how to get more information. We hope you find this information helpful, and thank you for your patience as we work to improve the long-term sustainability of the system.