Bright Birmingham Billboards - it won't be pretty!

The new LED Billboard is now up on Highland Ave. in Birmingham, and I suspect it's going to catch a lot of people by surprise once it is turned on. It is actually facing north, so if you're going South on the Red Mountain Expressway, it will glare at you as you come out from under the Highland Ave. overpass.

Not only that, but if you shop, eat out, work, worship or live here, this Jumbotron TV screen will be staring you in the face 24/7.

The new LED Board will be brightly visible from all these places.

This is a view from the Highland Ave. Western - imagine it at night with a bright screen.



These monstrosities can be stopped, but it takes a city council that can look beyond petty politics to what is best for the people of the city. Unfortunately, Birmingham's city council would not even implement a temporary moratorium on digital boards so that they could look at these types of signs. We also informed the Alabama Department of Transportation, because two more electronic boards are going up in Malfunction Junction (where it's so dangerous that the speed limit was cut to 50 mph). We never received a response.

The Federal Highway Administration is doing an unbiased study on electronic boards and their effects on driver safety. There is no credible evidence at present as to the safety of these signs,and it seems irresponsible to allow them to go up until we know they're safe.

On behalf of Scenic Alabama, we are sorry we were not able to stop these things in Birmingham. But you can stop any more from going up, by contacting your elected officials and tell them your city needs to ban electronic billboards - NOW.

Enjoy it while you can

Over the weekend, the big billboard on Red Mountain Expressway, which has blighted the view as you come into Birmingham for years, came down. Here's what it looks like now - I see a much nicer view than...







...this (which is from the other direction, but you get the picture). Unfortunately, it's very temporary. Before long, there will be a huge Jumbotron TV screen like...






...this to greet you - just the thing to welcome people into the historic Highland Avenue district. The Birmingham City Council refused to adopt a moratorium on these monstrosities, the state Department of Transportation doesn't seem to care, so you the residents and drivers of Birmingham will feel the pain.





There is another one going up on I-65 North just before the 3rd Avenue North off-ramp, and one on 59-20 coming into downtown at Carraway Blvd. - the heart of "Malfunction Junction." This is an area so dangerous that the governor reduced the speed limit to 50 to try and avoid wrecks. Yet the city and the state don't think that a giant television screen will be a problem. Go figure.

What can you do? Let the city and state know what you think. If you'd like, send Scenic Alabama your comments and we will forward them. Ask the mayor and Council of Birmingham and the governor to not allow any more to go up.

We're working on some legislation and possibly court action to stop these from infesting any more of our roads. If you want to help, you can sign up for our email action alerts, you can make calls and write letters on your own, and you can donate to Scenic Alabama so we can keep up the fight (it's tax deductible and there's a donation button on the website).

Remember - they're your roads, and you deserve a safe and scenic drive!

Birmingham Moratorium

The Birmingham City Council will vote on a moratorium on all electronic signs, on Tuesday April 24. As you can see from my previous posts, digital signs (especially the huge Jumbotron billboards) can be serious driver distractions, as well as making a neighborhood look like Times Square or the Vegas Strip.

A lot of other cities have put moratoriums on digital boards until they can decide if they want these kinds of signs, and what restrictions to put on them. Atlanta and Tuscaloosa have moratoriums. The governor of Rhode Island has stopped all digital billboard permits until they can decide if they want any more.

The main issue is - who do we want making the decisions about giant TV screens looming above our highways? Do we want the sign companies deciding (which is what in effect is happening now) or do we want our elected officials (and that means we, the citizens) to decide? The first step is to not allow any more to go up while the people's elected representatives consider the situation.

Birmingham residents can attend the Council meeting, which starts at 9:30 a.m. at Birmingham City Hall on Tuesday. If you can't go, please email me or post a comment here, and I'll make sure the Council gets it.