Colfax Friends, it's time to get loud.
The four Colfax Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) that make up the Colfax Collaborative have requested $20 million in bond funding for improvements along 8 miles of Colfax Avenue, from Monaco to Sheridan. The project is now on the short list for consideration by the Mayor and City Council. BUT - funding has been cut by more than two-thirds to just $6 million. Unless we act now, we will miss a generational opportunity to make Colfax the walkable main street we all want and need.
Click the button below to email the Mayor and City Council and tell them you want the Colfax Corridor Improvements project restored to the full $20 million.
Here's why:
We Want an Economically Vibrant Main Street
Over the next 25 years, the Colfax Corridor will increase its population by more than 25,000 people, create over 110,000 new jobs, have 40,000 more person-trips per day, and witness bus ridership increase by at least 20% (data provided by the
Colfax Corridor Connections study).
We must invest in safety and upgrades so that this huge increase in population and jobs is supported by a human-scale street environment that helps commerce flourish in the Colfax community. Doing so will attract more customers and more neighborhood-serving businesses, create new local jobs and increase sales tax revenue to the City.
This is precisely the reasoning behind why the city has invested more than $40M on Brighton Boulevard, $37M on South Broadway and plans to spend $23M on Washington Street and $16.7 M on West 13th Avenue. None of these projects are more than 20 blocks long. Can't we find $14M more to improve 8 miles of our city's iconic Main Street?
Make it a Safe Pedestrian Environment
Colfax is the city's #1 crash corridor, with 10 pedestrian deaths in the last two years. This is NOT OK. At least 32 city plans envision Colfax Avenue as a walkable main street, but in reality, it is designed as a highway for cars, not people.
Our public streets must be accessible for everyone, young children, the elderly, and with infrastructure and amenities that benefit all, regardless of one's physical abilities. Improving the safety for pedestrians will have a tremendous impact on economic well-being for the 75,000 residents living in the corridor while also being an economic benefit to the city, too.
Colfax for People
Bus Rapid Transit will transform the way we get around. But when 25,000 new residents call Colfax home and 110,000 new jobs are created in the corridor, the street will be overwhelmed and people will de-board the bus in hostile pedestrian environments. That's why we need transit AND pedestrian improvements for everyone who uses the street.
If Not Now-When?
It has taken 30 years to get to this point. We have 4 BIDs, 6 council districts, 15 neighborhoods, 1,000+ businesses and 75,000 neighbors all in support. Where else is there this kind of convergence in the City? It's time to care for Colfax - if not now, when?
See the full press release
here. And thank you for supporting Colfax Avenue!
