AURORA, Colo. — Construction on the final leg of the East Colfax Avenue Bus Rapid Transit project broke ground Friday in Aurora, with crews starting at Yosemite Street and moving east toward Interstate 225.
The new segment marks a significant design departure from the Denver portion of the project. Rather than running in center lanes, Aurora's BRT will operate in outside lanes — a decision Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said was informed by watching construction unfold in Denver first.
"We were lucky that they started first, that there wasn't a question... that simply was not the way to go," Coffman said. "It is disruptive to the local businesses. Ours will not be very disruptive at all to the local businesses."
▶️ WATCH: Denver7's Adria Iraheta took a trip to East Colfax as construction begins
The groundbreaking was marked by the signing of a bus at a press event. The overall Colfax BRT project is now just over halfway complete.
One local business owner will now watch BRT construction unfold for the second time.
Sean Buchan, owner of Cerebral Brewing, has had a front-row seat to the project's impact. His Congress Park brewery has been affected by construction for over a year, and his second location sits on Colfax and Florence in Aurora — a stretch he has long called home.
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"The difficult thing is, there's no preparing for it, because it really just — it comes at you, and you can't affect it in any way. So really, we're just going to see how it affects us down there, like we did here," Buchan said.
And while it may be hard for businesses to prepare, Aurora is taking a different approach to how it supports those businesses throughout the construction.
Denver has offered microgrants to businesses in construction zones. Auora is instead forming a Downtown Development Authority to manage redevelopment along the corridor.
Coffman said the authority will allow the city to reinvest tax revenue directly into the area.
"Will be able to keep all the tax revenue in this corridor beyond the current level, to focus on revitalizing the area," Coffman said.
Despite the uncertainty ahead, Buchan said he remains hopeful about what the project could mean for Colfax and Aurora's identity.
"I don't think Denver has been very good at public transit. I don't think this is going to be something that just all of a sudden fixes all of it, but I am optimistic that it will help a little bit," Buchan said. "There's a lot of stigma that we've dealt with over the years with just Colfax in general."
He sees the BRT as a turning point for a corridor he believes has always deserved more recognition.
"I think that that area has always been, maybe culturally, Aurora's downtown, but never been actually adopted or viewed that way," Buchan said. "And I think that this could really set that apart."
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