The Buchtel Work Zone Runs on Two Calendars, and One Belongs to DU

Which night this month will be the hardest for getting up University Boulevard past Buchtel? Saturday, Nov. 14 is the likely answer. It isn't the day crews have scheduled their biggest pour. It's the day DU men's basketball plays Wyoming at 1 p.m., Pioneers hockey faces Lindenwood at 6 p.m., and the Denver Astronomical Society opens Chamberlin Observatory to the public from 5:15 to 9:15 p.m. All of this happens next to a work zone where Buchtel is closed to through traffic.

Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure started the Buchtel Boulevard & Evans Intersection Improvements project in July 2026. The city expects it to take about 18 months and finish in late 2027. Crews work 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, with some overnight and weekend shifts. The Buchtel closure stays in place around the clock, and the city's own project page warns that DU hockey nights bring more congestion on the detour routes and heavy foot traffic to and from DU's Lot 108. Through the end of the year, game nights matter as much as the work schedule for getting around the north edge.

What the Work Zone Looked Like Going Into November

DOTI's weekly notice for Nov. 1 through 7 described this setup:

• Buchtel Boulevard, University to St. Paul: closed 24/7 to through traffic, with detours posted to Evans Avenue.
• Southbound University to eastbound Buchtel: the left-turn lane is closed.
• Northbound University Boulevard: the right lane is closed from East Jewell Avenue to the on-ramp for southbound I-25, and traffic squeezes into a single lane. The on-ramp stays open.
• On foot or by bike: the south sidewalk on Buchtel is open from Josephine Street to St. Paul Street. DOTI recommends the north sidewalk and trail as the detour from University to Josephine and across the rest of the site.
• Driveways and businesses: local access stays open.

Pedestrians crossing University get a separate route. DOTI added an ADA-accessible detour at the southeast corner of University and Buchtel. It gives east-west access through the south crosswalk, runs north-south, and connects to DU's Lot 108, with ramps at both ends. The city says to allow an extra one to two minutes. On a hockey night, that path is where Lot 108 foot traffic and neighborhood walkers end up sharing the same narrow route.

The Mid-November Switch, and Why It Keeps Moving

Work at University and Buchtel is happening on the east side first. Crews are removing old pavement, running underground conduit, grading curb ramps and sidewalk, pouring concrete medians, and building landscaped stormwater structures. Once that's done, the work moves across the intersection.

DOTI's current notice puts that move around mid-November. Buchtel is supposed to reopen to St. Paul Street at the same time, and right-lane closures shift to southbound University. An older advisory on the same page still gives the date as around Oct. 20, so the switch has already slipped once. The city says its construction schedules depend on weather and can change. In November, that warning matters.

The switch changes the commute in a specific way. The squeeze moves from northbound to southbound University, and east-west driving on Buchtel opens back up toward St. Paul. DOTI says the game-night pedestrian detours near Lot 108 stay in place until the east side of the intersection reopens to traffic. The crossover is projected for the same stretch as DU's first two home hockey weekends after this post goes up.

Where the Two Calendars Overlap

This table lists DU's home athletic events from the Pioneers' official calendar, shows at the Newman Center, and the Chamberlin open houses run by the Denver Astronomical Society, from Nov. 13 through Dec. 19.

Basketball and volleyball games are at Hamilton Gymnasium, and hockey is at Magness Arena. Women's basketball has two more home games after the table ends, on Dec. 22 and Dec. 31. The Voices Rock shows are listed at 2199 S. University Blvd.

Reading the Stack

Three Saturdays carry the heaviest loads.

Nov. 14 has the most going on at once. The basketball crowd heads out in the afternoon, three Voices Rock shows at the Newman Center turn over through the day, the hockey crowd arrives for a 6 p.m. puck drop, and Chamberlin's open house runs straight through the evening. The observatory is inside the neighborhood, south of campus. The open house is free and needs no ticket or reservation. The program includes lawn activities at dusk, weather-permitting telescope viewing, and tours after dark. For neighbors close enough to walk, it's an easy evening. Anyone planning to drive in from the north should expect the University and Buchtel area to be busy.

Nov. 21 comes about a week after the projected crossover. It's also the second hockey Saturday, with a 1 p.m. volleyball match and a Nutcracker at the Newman Center on the same day. If crews have moved west by then, the right-lane closure will be on southbound University, so people coming to campus from the north will hit it on the way in.

Dec. 5 brings North Dakota for the second night of a hockey weekend, along with the Symphony of the Rockies holiday concert at the Newman Center.

The quiet evenings are useful to know about too. Nothing at the Pioneers' home venues lands on Belliston Ballet's Nutcracker weekend over Thanksgiving or on the Dec. 12 Chamberlin open house. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra plays on Nov. 15, the Sunday after the busiest Saturday, with no home game listed. The Dec. 14–15 and Dec. 17 holiday shows also fall on dates with no home athletics listed. The Dec. 5 holiday concert shares its day with hockey, and the Dec. 19 Josh Blue tapings share theirs with men's basketball against Rice at 1 p.m.

Evans Is Doing Double Duty

Through-traffic from Buchtel goes to Evans Avenue, and Evans is also part of the project. Two of the five intersections being rebuilt are Evans at University and Evans at Colorado. On weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., the city expects single-lane closures with traffic shifts and delays inside the project area.

Evans may also get busier for another reason. Post Oak Barbecue announced plans for a second Denver location at 1737 E. Evans Ave., in the former Sawa Mediterranean space, the Denver Post reported in May. A later report from Developing MyCity described a full-service restaurant and bar, with permit applications under review and a target of later in 2026.

What the Finished Street Is Meant to Be

The city calls the end goal a "complete street." Plans cover about two miles of Buchtel, from west of University Boulevard to Colorado Center Drive at Birch Street, east of Colorado Boulevard. They include protected bike lanes, sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. Five intersections are being rebuilt with realigned lanes and new traffic signals: Buchtel at University, St. Paul and Colorado, and Evans at University and Colorado. The St. Paul and Buchtel signal is getting a full rebuild. New crosswalks next to RTD's Colorado Station, plus new lighting and wayfinding signs, round out the work.

The design comes from years of planning, including the 2017 University/Colorado Multi-station Plan and Mobility Study, and online design reviews in 2023 and 2024. The intersection drawings are posted on the project page, so the finished corner at University and Buchtel can already be viewed.

DOTI posts weekly work notices on the project page and runs a project hotline at 720.998.6223. On a game Saturday, it's worth checking the weekly notice and the Pioneers' schedule before heading out.

Christine Nicholson follows how street projects like this one change the blocks around them, from the first closure to the final striping. If you live near University and Buchtel and want to talk through what a construction window running into late 2027 means for your street, Christine Nicholson is glad to share what she's seeing. Let's Connect.