Why the Banff town sign may soon move

The Banff town sign, a popular spot for tourists, may soon have a new home.

The $350,000 sign, installed in 2017, is intended to welcome people to the idyllic mountain community, but has turned into a tourist magnet.

"We never expected this volume of people to be attracted to the sign," said Darren Enns, Town of Banff director of planning and environment.

"It's a sign of both a success, but some challenges that come with that success."

The sign sits in the 100 block of Mount Norquay Road, across the street from the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre.

Many visitors park at the rec centre to walk over, causing a steady stream of pedestrians to cross Mount Norquay Road – a road that sees some 17,000 vehicles a day in the summer.  

"Having the Banff sign on a busy transportation corridor has raised concerns around safety, and particularly pedestrian safety," said Enns.

"It's an incredibly popular attraction, and we've had to respond with a number of traffic mitigations over the years to minimize risk."

Banff’s council is now looking at places to move the sign that are more pedestrian oriented and would have less traffic.

The preferred option, Enns says, is to move the sign to the Banff Train Station, about one kilometre away.

Liricon Capital, which is proposing the construction of a rail link connecting Calgary to Banff, would cover most of cost of the relocation.

The company also owns Mount Norquay Ski Resort.

Liricon Capital spokesperson Jasper Johnson says the move would hopefully create a spot where people can do more than just "take a picture of a sign."

A date hasn’t been finalized but Liricon Capital would like to begin relocating the sign by the spring of 2025.

According to Enns, the town would only have to cover the cost of the remediation to the existing site.

Administration is working through the estimates and will provide council with an update in December.

Popularity of location signs

The popularity of these signs is noticeable worldwide, as people flock to them to take photos.

Andrea Trifunovic works as a professional photographer and shares her travel experiences through Instagram with her nearly 100,000 followers.

She has thoughts on why these signs receive attention from visitors.

"I think it's just fun. It's fun because everybody's so social-media driven and I feel like people like to share where they've been," she said.

"Nothing does that more than having that wording of where you are and where you've been with yourself in the photo."

She even got her photo at the Banff sign in 2023.

"You go and see the mountains, you see Lake Louise, but having to go see that Banff sign just seals the deal," she said.

Trifunovic goes by the Instagram handle @blueorchidphotos.