Karen Huber County Commissioner: Precinct Three Report

KVUE-TV News
September 9, 2008

Billboard controversy along Highway 71 in
West Travis County

By AMY JOHNSTON
KVUE News

Some people who live in the Hill Country say a disturbing new trend is popping off Highway 71 … and the signs are hard to miss.

The Hill Country is where many people relax.

“When you're getting out of Austin going through the Hill Country, your blood pressure just drops,” said Barney Bigham, who lives in West Travis County.

“Now my blood pressure is going up,” Bigham says, as he reacts to billboards, he says, that are all but blocking out the pristine views.

“I’ve seen four go up in the last month,” he said.

In a two-mile span on Highway 71, just east of FM 2232, drivers will see a dozen billboards.

Those billboards do get a lot of attention, but probably not the kind they had hoped. The group Scenic Texas says this road and those billboards get more complaints that any other highway in the state.

“It spans the gamut from invasion of personal enjoyment of life to tourists who use this as the gateway to the Hill Country,” said Karen Huber, who is on the executive board of Scenic Texas. And they’re coming, and they’re going, ‘Oh, there’s Lake Travis. I can’t see anymore, there’s a billboard in the way.’ The last three legislative sessions, we've worked actively, and in between the legislative sessions, we try to garner grass roots supports to protect our scenic Hill Country,” he said.

But it hasn’t happened, at least not yet. In the meantime, people like Bigham believe some advertisers are feeling the heat.

“A local jeweler put up a billboard with a big sky view of clouds, then a very tasteful ad beneath it. I think advertisers know it's offensive,” he said.

And locals want their scenic view back. Scenic Texas says it will push legislators to pass a law during the next session that will give local communities the rights to approve, or ban, highway billboards.

Link to the original video report on KVUE