LOS ANGELES — The City Council approved a plan Friday for the installation of about 80 digital billboards on properties owned by Metro throughout the city.
Council members voted 10-4 to amend city law to establish the Transportation Communication Network, a Metro program that will establish a network of transportation communication structures and digital displays equipped with intelligent technology components.
Council members Traci Park, Nithya Raman, Katy Yaroslavsky and Eunisses Hernandez voted against the item, and Councilman Curren Price was absent during the meeting.
In an earlier vote during Friday’s council meeting, council members voted 9-4, with council members Price and Marqueece Harris-Dawson absent during the vote.
According to a report from City Planning, the new digital displays are intended to “promote roadway efficiency, improve public safety, augment existing communication capacity related to transportation and provide outdoor advertising to generate revenue to fund new and expanded transportation programs.”
Under the program, nearly 200 existing, non-electric billboards would be removed in exchange for these new digital signs.
The transit agency previously reported that the estimated revenue generated from the program will be about $500 million over 20 years, and it would be split evenly between Metro and the city.
Digital billboards will go up at or near city landmarks and Metro stations, such as Union Station, Pershing Square, Universal Studios, LAX and adjacent to freeways.
Councilman Kevin de Leon, whose 14th District encompasses areas such as downtown L.A., Boyle Heights and El Serreno, had previous concerns with the plans because his district has historically “endured billboard lights without reaping any of the tangible community benefits.”
“This proposal has my support because it finally empowers us to negotiate terms that work to our advantage, like eliminating dozens or more of existing static billboards,…
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