So the new signs could be popping up any day now, mostly along the Kennedy, the Stevenson, the Eisenhower, and the Dan Ryan. The only current obstacle is a lawsuit Scenic America filed against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration for failing to follow procedures when the FHA issued the 2007 about-face memorandum.
Scenic America’s attorney, Thomas Gremillion of the Institute for Public Representation at the Georgetown University Law Center, says if they prevail on all their claims, it’s possible that LED billboards on highways “would have to come down, or at least become static” in order for states to protect their federal funding.
Which could make them pretty expensive single-advertiser signs.
The Scenic America suit was filed in January, and doesn’t seem to have been causing any sleepless nights for Emanuel or Interstate-JCDecaux. But the amended Illinois law carries this caveat: “The changes made to the Act . . . shall not be applicable if the application would impact the receipt, use, or reimbursement of federal funds by the Illinois Department of Transportation.”