Since August 10, Santa Fe Drive has worked like two different streets. On weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., it's a work zone with flaggers, detours and trenches moving north a block or two at a time. On the first Friday of each month, it goes back to being the Art District on Santa Fe. That second schedule is written down. Denver Water's project page says its crews won't work during First Friday Art Walks, and the city lists "First Friday events will continue without interruption throughout construction" among the construction principles on its Santa Fe Streetscape project page.
For anyone in Baker and Lincoln Park, the area many people call La Alma, that makes Friday, December 4 the most dependable night to use the corridor this winter. It's also the night when Su Teatro's holiday show, the MSU Denver Center for Visual Art's artist market and Museo de las Américas' free First Friday hours all line up. This guide covers what is being built, who is doing the work, what it is doing to the businesses along the street, and how to plan a visit that works.
The project in plain terms
The Santa Fe Streetscape project is a rebuild of the street between West 6th and West 13th avenues. It is funded with $29 million from the Vibrant Denver bond. Denverite reports that neighborhood advocates tried and failed to get Santa Fe funded in the two bond packages before Vibrant Denver, so for many people nearby this is a long-awaited project.
The end result is meant to look a lot like the street does today: still one-way, two lanes, with street parking. What changes is everything around the travel lanes. Sidewalks get wider, intersections are rebuilt, and new landscaping and pedestrian lighting go in. Much of the pavement and the pipes under it are old, which is why so many crews are working at once.
That timing is deliberate. Denver Water says it is replacing the main now, while the street is open anyway, so nobody has to dig up a newly rebuilt street later. That is why pipe, gas and stormwater crews all share the same seven blocks.
Where the work zone sits this month
Three crews have work scheduled on the corridor, and each runs on its own clock.
Crew | Where | What and when |
|---|---|---|
Denver Water | West 7th to West 12th avenues | Replacing more than 2,800 feet of 136-year-old water main. The final phase, between 11th and 12th, is on schedule to finish in late November. |
Hamon Infrastructure | 12th to 13th avenues, east side | First streetscape phase began October 26 with roadway removal and stormwater work. |
Xcel Energy | 6th to 13th avenues | Gas main work between 6th and 8th was scheduled to start October 12. Electrical upgrades for new street and pedestrian lighting are planned to finish in the first quarter of 2027. |
Closure limits depend on the source and the week. Denverite reported a weekday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. closure for the work zone from 6th to 12th avenues. Denver Water's October 30 update has Santa Fe closed to through traffic between West 10th and West 13th avenues, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday. The limits move as the crews move, so check the project pages before you go.
At the north end, Hamon's phase takes away the right travel lane and street parking on both sides from 12th Avenue to just north of 13th. It also fully closes 13th Avenue where it meets the east side of Santa Fe. To get ready, crews have been taking out trees and pedestrian lighting along that block.
Timeline: what is coming, and when
When | What to expect |
|---|---|
August 10, 2026 | Construction begins with weekday daytime closures. |
October 26, 2026 | Hamon's first streetscape phase begins at 12th to 13th avenues. |
Late November 2026 | Denver Water's final phase, 11th to 12th, is scheduled to finish. |
December 4, 2026 | First Friday Art Walk, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. |
Q1 2027 | Xcel's electrical and lighting work is planned to finish. The city expects Denver Water and Xcel to wrap up utility work in early 2027. |
Summer 2027 | Denver Parks and Recreation plans to start building the redesigned La Alma-Lincoln Park. |
End of 2028 | Hamon's scheduled finish for the streetscape. |
Late November ends the pipe work, not the construction
The water main is the piece closest to done, and the rest of the project runs well past it. Once the utilities finish, Hamon keeps one lane of Santa Fe open while the streetscape work continues, and the work moves block by block toward the 2028 finish date.
What changes over that time is the kind of disruption. Full weekday closures for pipe trenching give way to a long stretch of one-lane traffic, phase by phase. For a driver, that is usually easier than a full closure. For a shop owner, a lane reduction plus lost street parking can still be hard on foot traffic.
If you live in the neighborhood, treat the project as a series of small moving zones, not one long closure. A block that is torn up in December may be open again by spring, while the zone two blocks north is just getting started. The project page posts phase notices in English and Spanish, and that is the most reliable way to see which block is next.
What a weekday looks like from behind the counter
Every business stays open during construction, according to both Denver Water and the city. Flaggers at each end of the work zone help people get into alleys. Getting there is still slower. Through traffic is directed to East 6th Avenue and northbound Speer Boulevard to avoid the work.
El Taco de Mexico, at Santa Fe and West 7th, has been one of the clearest examples. Owner Sasha Zanabria told CBS Colorado she estimates sales are down about 30% since work started in August. She made her own signs pointing drivers to an alternate route on West 7th, and later learned 7th would be closed too.
"It slows consumer base down a little bit, just because it adds time to people's routes."
That CBS Colorado report says some owners on the corridor have asked for financial relief like the Community STAND grants on East Colfax, where the Denver Urban Renewal Authority gave out about $1 million during bus rapid transit construction. The city told the station the project is on schedule and encouraged people to keep coming out, especially for First Friday.
Back in August, galleries were seeing a mix. KDVR reported that Sara Esposito, an artist at the Denver Art Society, said some visitors had trouble finding the gallery around the construction. Ben Zorich, manager at Abstract Denver, said people were parking on side streets and traffic hadn't slowed business yet.
The pattern across those reports is consistent. Businesses nearest the heaviest work feel it first, and the cost is mostly in missed spontaneous visits, because people avoid a street they expect to be a hassle. Planned trips, like a show or an opening, hold up better. That is one reason a First Friday visit works well right now.
How First Friday became the night the schedule protects
The protection goes beyond a single evening. Denver Water's FAQ says that in First Friday weeks, its crews work Sunday through Thursday and keep streets and walkways open and accessible. On regular weeks, the utility also schedules some weekend work, usually 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. So in any given month, the first Friday is the one weekday Denver Water's plan keeps its crews off the street. In November that meant a Sunday shift on November 1 to finish the 12th Avenue intersection, then no work at all on November 6.
By the next First Friday, Denver Water's pipe work should be done. For the rest of the project, the city's construction principles say First Friday events will continue without interruption throughout construction, and access to all businesses will be maintained. That is a commitment from the city and its contractors, so it is still smart to check the project page the day of.
December 4, and the weeks around it
The Art District's walks run 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. every month, and December 4 is the next one. A few things are running that week:
- Su Teatro, 721 Santa Fe Drive. La Pastorela, written by Luis Valdez and directed by Anthony J. Garcia and Daniel Valdez, opens December 3 and runs through December 20. A First Friday visit can include the show's opening weekend.
- Museo de las Américas, 861 Santa Fe Drive. Free admission 5 to 9 p.m. every First Friday.
- Center for Visual Art, MSU Denver, 965 Santa Fe Drive. The Winter Artist Market, with work and gifts from more than 40 local artists, runs through December 12. December 4 is close to its last week.
Before then, CHAC's Día de los Muertos exhibition, "Blooming Through the Spirit of Cempasúchil," is up at 834 Santa Fe Drive through November 15.
A sample First Friday evening
Here is one way to string the night together. Park early, since the closer blocks fill first. Start at the Center for Visual Art for the artist market while the crowd is thin, which also gets your gift shopping done. Walk to Museo de las Américas for the free hours, then head to Su Teatro for the show. Eat on the corridor between stops, because the restaurants and taquerias on Santa Fe are the businesses that most need the traffic right now.
Parking and getting there
Parking is the part the construction actually changes, since Hamon's phase has removed street spaces between 12th and 13th. The Art District lists these First Friday options:
- Free parking on neighborhood side streets
- RPS lot at 801 Kalamath
- $5 parking at West High School near 10th and Galapago
- Su Teatro's lot near Santa Fe and 2nd
On non-Friday visits, the district asks people to park on open blocks of Santa Fe and in the surrounding neighborhood. If you ride the bus, stops in the corridor may be moved temporarily, and RTD posts those changes on its service alerts page.
Where to get updates
- The city's Santa Fe Streetscape project page has phase notices in English and Spanish and a project hotline at 720-335-5944.
- Denver Water's project page has the latest pipe updates and an email sign-up.
- RTD's service alerts page covers bus stop changes.
The park, and the bigger neighborhood picture
A few blocks west, Denver Parks and Recreation plans to start building the redesigned La Alma-Lincoln Park in summer 2027. The plan includes a restored amphitheater and plaza, a roller loop and improved sports fields. Between the street rebuild and the park, the area around Santa Fe will look different by the end of 2028 than it did a year ago.
The neighborhood has deep roots as a Chicano arts and cultural center, and the venues along Santa Fe are a big part of why. That history is part of what makes the street worth supporting during construction. If you want to see how the surrounding area compares, Sallie has neighborhood pages for Baker, Lincoln Park, Golden Triangle, Speer and Capitol Hill, which all sit close to the corridor.
What it means for homes nearby
Two years of street construction changes how people get around a neighborhood, and it can change what the blocks along it are worth once it's done. In the short term, owners near the corridor deal with detours, noise and fewer parking spaces. Over the longer run, the finished street is meant to bring wider sidewalks, rebuilt intersections and new landscaping, and a renovated park is coming a few blocks west.
How much of that shows up in prices depends on the block, the property type and the timing. A few questions are worth asking if you own or are looking nearby:
- Which phase will be in front of the property, and for how long?
- Will on-street parking return in the same form after the rebuild?
- How close is the property to the park work planned for 2027?
- If you plan to sell, does it make more sense to list before the heaviest block-by-block work or after the finished street is visible?
If you're thinking about buying, start with the Denver Buyer Game Plan, then browse homes for sale in Lincoln Park. If you're thinking about selling, the sellers guide walks through pricing, prep and timing. If you're moving from out of state, the relocation page is the place to begin, and Sallie also has guides for moving from California and Texas. For a wider look at costs and planning, read the honest Colorado relocation guide and the Denver move checklist. Buyers weighing several areas may also like 6 Denver neighborhoods to watch.
If you'd like a straight read on how the Santa Fe rebuild could affect a home near the corridor, whether you're thinking of staying, selling or buying nearby, Sallie Simmons is glad to go through it with you. Start the conversation.
