Billboards on the Bay

We live in a beautiful place and we are reminded of this every time we bike, walk, or drive around Humboldt Bay. Unfortunately, for many years these scenic coastal views have been marred by the presence of unsightly billboards jutting up along the Highway 101 Safety Corridor between Arcata and Eureka.

Humboldt Baykeeper has been working for several years to have these billboards removed - legally and permanently. There have been many unsuccessful attempts in the past to remove these billboards, but in Sept. 2013, the California Coastal Commission responded to our calls to address this blight. Since then, Caltrans has finally revoked permits for most of the billboards along the bay. Since 2012, 15 fewer billboards obstruct our beautiful bay views between Arcata and Eureka, and today only 4 remain. We will continue our efforts until they are all gone for good.

Two More Billboards Bite the Dust

Two billboards collapsed into Humboldt Bay wetlands in recent storms - one along the Highway 101 Safety Corridor, and one in the Elk River marsh adjacent to Highway 101, just south of Eureka. We will keep an eye on these to ensure that all applicable permitting and environmental review is done before any billboards can be rebuilt.

These signs were all built long before current permitting and land use planning, and would never be allowed to be built in coastal wetlands today.

Since 2014, 18 billboards have been removed from the shores of Humboldt Bay, mostly along the Highway 101 Safety Corridor between Arcata and Eureka.

Four More Billboards Removed

On Dec. 30, four more billboards were removed from Highway 101 near Bracut!

More Billboards to be Removed from Humboldt Bay Shoreline

In August, Caltrans announced that an agreement had been made with billboard giant Outfront Media to remove ten billboards along Highway 101 adjacent to Humboldt Bay. Even though six of the billboards had already had their permits revoked, this agreement was a big step forward and applauded by many. What Outfront Media will get in exchange is currently unknown.

Ten billboards to fall along Humboldt Bay

8/20/16

By the end of the year, only four billboards will be left standing along Humboldt Bay between Eureka and Arcata.

In an agreement with Caltrans that was publicly announced on Friday, the billboards’ owner Outfront Media Inc. — formerly CBS Outdoor — will remove 10 billboards along Humboldt Bay before the end of the year, thus clearing the way for the proposed Humboldt Bay Trail and the construction of a new interchange at the Indianola Cutoff.

Keep electric signs’ noisy glare out of Eureka

Letter to the Editor

3/28/15

The Eureka City Council will be discussing electronic signs at their next meeting (April 7 at 6 p.m., Eureka City Hall). There are already electronic signs at several Eureka businesses, and a couple of them are on historic houses in residential neighborhoods. These signs have several drawbacks: They are illuminated and can annoy neighbors who may be trying to sleep. They complete for attention and contribute to visual blight. They are distracting to drivers. In order to compete, other business will also want electronic signs. Soon there will be hundreds all over town and we will no longer be a Victorian sea port of architectural significance — we will be awash in brilliance and glare like so many cities. Please attend the meeting and email or call council members.