Colorado Highways Cluttered and Endangered with about 3,000 Billboards.

Colorado is blighted with about 3,000 billboards across the state. They are a threat to highway safety and the scenic environment. This inventory of billboards was developed from records of January, 2001 of the Colorado Department of Transportation and contacts with city and county officials. The data was compiled by Scenic Colorado, a private group dedicated to preserving and enhancing the visual environment and aesthetic character of the communities and countryside of Colorado.

Denver is Worst County for Billboards

Denver is the worst offender with 570 billboards. This includes 308 on state and federal highways and another 262 on Denver city and county streets. Larimer County is the second worst offender with 174 billboards, followed by Weld County with 138, Adams County with 107, and El Paso County with 99. The “most littered eleven” counties for billboards are:

County	Billboards
Larimer	174
Adams	107
Pueblo	84
Fremont	66
Jefferson	48

The best counties for controlling billboards are in some of the most scenic parts of the state. No billboards are located in the counties of Dolores, Pitkin, San Juan and Summit. Counties with only one or two billboards include Crowley, San Miguel, Broomfield, Ouray, Hinsdale, Eagle, and Kiowa. Douglas County is to be commended with just 4 billboards, even though it is one of the fastest growing and wealthiest jurisdictions in the nation. Douglas County has prohibited new billboards since 1964.

Other progressive counties prohibiting new billboards include: Boulder, Broomfield, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Gunnison, Jefferson, Larimer, Montrose, Pitkin, Routt, Summit, and Teller.

Rules regarding billboard sizes and locations on state and federal highways are set by the Colorado Department of Transportation. County and local governments can adopt more stringent rules and fortunately do in many cases, but many others do not.

Colorado Springs is Worst City for Billboards

Incorporated cities control billboards on local roads over which they have jurisdiction separate from counties. The worst city for billboards is Colorado Springs with 185 locations on federal, state and local roads. The second worst city for billboards is Cortez with 101, then Pueblo with 60, Greeley with 42 and Grand Junction with 37. Over 20 billboards are in Ft. Collins, Sheridan, Sterling, Wheat Ridge and Craig.

In summary, the “most littered eleven” cities for billboards are:

City	Billboards
Cortez	101
Greeley	42
Ft. Collins	28
Sterling	23
Craig	22

Dozens of cities in Colorado are blessed with no billboards. These include Black Hawk, Central City, Crested Butte, Georgetown, Glenwood Springs, Green Mountain Falls, Greenwood Village, Las Animas, Palisade, Parachute, Rangely, San Luis, Steamboat Springs, Telluride, Vail, Winter Park, and Yuma.

Some cities are doing their part to reduce billboards and improve the visual character of their communities. For example, Manitou Springs removed three in 2001 leaving eight in the community at the base of Pikes Peak. At the state level, the Colorado Department of Transportation removed over 200 billboards in connection with highway widening and relocation projects during 2001.

Other cities prohibit new “off-premise signs,” to use the technical term. Over time, billboards should decline in number as old ones come down and no new ones are allowed. New billboards are prohibited in Boulder, Cortez, Englewood, Fort Collins, Golden, Greeley, Gunnison, Lakewood, Littleton, Loveland, Pagosa Springs, Sheridan, Steamboat Springs, Telluride, Thornton, Westminster, and Wheat Ridge.

More Must be Done

This inventory seriously understates the true visual and safety impact of billboards. The data reported here deal only with locations, not faces. Many billboards have two faces and some have four stacked together. Often the newer ones are the largest in size with the most faces.

Many jurisdictions can do more to reduce “litter on a stick” along highways and byways.

• Prohibit new billboards.
• Reduce “caps” on the number of billboards as in Colorado Springs and El Paso County.
• On state and federal highways, buy out billboards.
• On local roads, use “amortization” provisions forcing owners to remove billboards after a certain time, such as five years.
• Mandate smaller sizes, greater spacing, and no extended parts.
• Remove “illegal” billboards that have been installed without permits or encroach on highway rights-of-way.
• Insure billboards are not allowed to be more distracting with moving lights and parts.
• Be vigilant against new billboard proposals such as “trivision” with rotating faces and “electronic billboards” with moving messages.

Details are available on numbers of billboards by each city and county in Colorado. Details also show numbers of conforming, nonconforming, grandfathered, illegal and other categories of billboards. To lend your support or find out more, contact us by phone or by e-mail.