Have you ever traveled so much that you forget what city you’re in?  Neither have we. But the Denver City Council has a solution for those who have. Yesterday, Denver City Council approved $11.5 million to create a massive tacky LED sign near E-470 to remind everyone where they are.  And there’s no word yet on any environmental impact study about the light pollution that such as project would create.

Workers will break ground on the “Mile High Welcome” in early 2017 and will finish in less than a year.  Proponents of the sign claim that it will be on par with the “famed Los Angeles Airport sign” and will pay for itself in ad revenue over the course of seven years.

We can promise you that the LAX letters did not cost anywhere near $11.5 million dollars. This sign more on par with the 236 beetle kill logs that line the airport’s light rail station.  The city paid $2 million for that wood.

It seems like the folks at the DIA are more concerned with the questionable aesthetics of the facility than its functionality.  Talking with out-of-towners, “Blucifer,” the menacing blue horse on Pena Boulevard, seems to be the most memorable aspect of the airport. It’s a close second to the creepy dystopian murals that loom near the baggage claim.   And of course who can miss the massive new hotel that breaks up the view of the terminal’s snow capped peaks for travelers as they arrive.

Maybe this $11.5 million billboard is an attempt to cover up some of these past public art debacles.  We’re not sure, but that money could probably help fix RTD’s broken “train to the plane” and have some left over for better wifi, more charging stations, and security enhancements – you know, the things that people actually use.