DENVER – The Colfax Corridor Connections project got a small boost to continue its planning Thursday when it received a $1.35 million grant from federal authorities.
The grant is part of the Federal Transit Administration’s Pilot Program for Transit Oriented Development and will be used for further planning on the pending project to expand bus services along East Colfax.
The city estimates the Bus Rapid Transit expansion would double ridership in the area. The projected is expected to cost a total of between $125 million and $135 million, so the grant is only a small portion of the money needed for the project.
The corridor would stretch from the Auraria Campus all the way to Aurora along Colfax and would create designated bus lanes on each side of the avenue that would be for buses only during peak transportation hours.
A spokesperson for Denver Public Works said earlier this year that current bus services are used by about 20,000 people. The city hopes the corridor would expand ridership to 50,000.
It has drawn support from Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, Sen. Michael Bennet, and Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette.
The city says planning for exactly what the grant money will be used for will involve public input. It says it will prioritize infrastructure to link up with pedestrian and bicycle paths in order to hopefully reduce people’s use of cars along Colfax.
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