"I'm so glad that people will not be playing chicken going across the street," Aurora Councilmember Stephanie Hancock said at the groundbreaking for the Nine Mile pedestrian bridge over Parker Road. She was talking about a crossing that will not exist for another year. The Sentinel reported the groundbreaking on September 30, 2026. The bridge is scheduled to be installed in summer 2027, and the whole project should be finished in fall 2027.
So this fall, most of the change along the S. Parker Road corridor, from I-225 and Nine Mile Station southeast past Hampden Avenue, is happening at addresses people already know. A Golden Wok has a new tenant. A longtime cafe site has been torn down to make way for a different business. A Taiwanese bakery chain picked this stretch for its first Colorado store. The street itself, the lanes and the crossings, won't change much until 2027. For anything with an October date, Cherry Creek State Park on the corridor's eastern edge has most of the calendar.
Two familiar addresses with new uses
The clearest example is 15282 E. Hampden Ave. Westword reported in April 2026 that Ono Era would take over the Golden Wok space there. The restaurant comes from Misty Wise, who founded s'ONO!, a Hawaiian and Korean fusion kiosk in the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria campus that has run for just over a decade. Wise also has a past with the space itself. Before her culinary career took off, she ran delivery for Golden Wok in Aurora.
The menu mixes Asian and Hawaiian influences: sushi, poke bowls and Korean street food. Wise planned to add Korean barbecue, including galbi short ribs and pork belly, and to carry over some dishes from Golden Wok and Snack Shack. The April announcement aimed for a June opening. Westword's September 1 roundup listed Ono Era among Aurora's August openings, so it opened about two months later than planned.
The second address is at South Havana Street and Parker Road. On August 12, 2026, a crew demolished the former Sam's No. 3 cafe, and the Sentinel reported that the site will become a gas-station convenience store. That project drew complaints from some nearby businesses and residents. It also arrived as the city council started looking at how Aurora notifies neighbors about proposed development. At an August 10 study session, council told staff to explore changes to the unified development ordinance. Options include notifying property owners within a set distance, posting signs at a site when an application is filed, and expanding who can appeal decisions. No tenant name or opening date has been reported for the Sam's No. 3 site yet.
Both sites show how this corridor changes. A business leaves, a new one moves into a known address, and the sign changes before most of the neighborhood has heard anything. The city's review is about how much warning the people nearby get when that happens.
The one arrival with no local precedent
85°C Bakery Cafe is the corridor's newcomer. Its store at 2767 S. Parker Road is the chain's first in Colorado and its 100th in the U.S. The company was founded in Taiwan in 2003 and entered the U.S. market in 2008. It sells fresh-baked breads, pastries, cakes, coffee, tea and boba drinks. The Denver Post noted that its Sea Salt Cream Vietnamese Iced Coffee went viral last year.
The two news sources give different timing. Westword's September 1 roundup put 85°C among Aurora's August openings. The Denver Post's September 23 story says the store "opened on Friday" and promised giveaways all weekend. Either way, it is open now. Neither outlet published store hours, so check directly before planning a morning pastry run.
Put 85°C and Ono Era together and the corridor gained two food spots in about six weeks, one at Hampden and one on Parker Road itself. Neither involved new roads or new public space.
The bridge runs on a much longer schedule
The Nine Mile pedestrian bridge is the corridor's one major public project. It is also the only change here measured in seasons. The $9.3 million bridge will link housing and retail on one side of Parker Road with the RTD Nine Mile transit station on the other. Mayor Mike Coffman called it "long overdue."
The project has been in the works for more than a decade. George Thorn, president of Mile High Development, said his firm was named master developer for the site at Parker Road and South Quari Street in 2015, when the land needed significant cleanup. That site now holds a King Soopers shopping center and multifamily housing. Thorn said the company has invested $100 million there over the past 10 years and plans to invest about the same amount going forward.
Here is the schedule from the Sentinel's groundbreaking report:
- Fall 2026: site work, erosion control and utility prep.
- Through winter: minimal on-site construction while the bridge is fabricated off-site in Loveland.
- Spring 2027: work starts on the foundation and the pedestrian ramps up to the bridge.
- Summer 2027: the bridge structure is installed.
- Fall 2027: the full project is expected to be complete.
Artist Vicki Scuri designed the bridge's art. She used colored, laser-cut panels and drew the colors from the prairie and the movement from prairie grass and the water at Cherry Creek State Park. "When you walk across, there'll be a shadow garden that's created," Scuri said. The project is a partnership among the city, the Aurora Urban Renewal Authority, CDOT, RTD and developers Mile High Development and Koelbel and Co. JHL Constructors is the contractor.
What drivers will see this fall
During the early site work, expect occasional single-lane closures on Parker Road between South Peoria Street and I-225:
- Northbound: closures between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Southbound: closures between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Peak travel times: all lanes open.
The closures fall in midday hours, so they mostly affect lunch trips and errands, not commutes. For real-time lane and road updates on the project, the city points drivers to CoTrip.org.
October's dated plans are mostly in the state park
The new restaurants have open doors but no event schedules, and the bridge is a year away. For things you can actually put on a calendar this month, Cherry Creek State Park has the most. Its 2026 schedule on CPW Connect lists:
- Saturday, Oct. 3, 9 a.m.: October Fishing Clinic at the Mountain Loop parking lot. Equipment is provided, and it's open to beginners and experienced anglers.
- Wednesday, Oct. 7 and Wednesday, Oct. 21, 9 a.m.: Little Nature Explorers story time and craft at the Swim Beach.
- Friday, Oct. 9, 11 a.m.: October Archery Clinic, which already has a waitlist.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m.: the park's annual Trunk or Treat, with decorated car trunks, booths and nature-themed games.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 9 a.m.: Dog Off Leash Volunteer Day.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m.: Witches and Wizards Paddle at West Shades. Bring your own paddle craft.
Most of these require registration. Registration for the archery clinic closes 24 hours before the program date, and registration for the paddle closes 24 hours before its date and start time. The schedule continues into November with an archery clinic on Saturday, Nov. 14, which is also waitlisted, and Little Nature Explorers sessions on Nov. 18 and Nov. 25. The Visitor Center and Campground Office are open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through October. Those are office hours, not gate hours.
Two other October dates sit within a short drive of the corridor. Chocotoberfest runs Oct. 10, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds, 25690 E. Quincy Ave., with more than 70 chocolate vendors. Southlands holds its Fall-O-Ween on Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a fall market, pumpkin patch and trick-or-treat stations. That's the same day as the park's Trunk or Treat, which starts at 1 p.m. Southlands also has a Sourdough & Co. coming to 6295 S. Main St., but no opening date has been announced.
Over the next twelve months, the corridor's storefronts will keep changing, starting with whatever opens at the old Sam's No. 3 site. Pedestrians won't have a new way across Parker Road until the bridge is installed in summer 2027 and the project wraps up that fall.
If you own a home or a rental near Parker Road and want to know what the Nine Mile bridge and this fall's new tenants could mean for your property, Colorado Dream Properties can help. Request a free home valuation or a property management quote, and we'll walk you through it with local, practical detail.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
