Election season is here, which involves prospective candidates hanging up and posting signs outside as you traverse across Southcentral Alaska. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities wants to remind the public the importance of being mindful where the campaign signs are posted outside.
In response to the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, Alaskans voted to adopt statutes and regulations to ensure public safety and federal regulatory compliance and preserve the state’s scenic beauty by minimizing outdoor advertising, which is why billboards don’t exist in Alaska.
To maintain consistency with those laws and regulations, the DOT also wants to remind the public that it is illegal to place unauthorized signs, including both political and commercial advertising, within state highway right of ways. The use of these right of ways are governed by federal and state laws and unauthorized use is illegal and poses a threat to the safety of the traveling public. The state of Alaska also has strict limits on commercial advertising in areas adjacent to state highways.
In 2018, the Alaska Chapter of the ACLU filed suit in Alaska Superior Court regarding campaign signs and free speech. As a result of the lawsuit, the state and federal funding partners agreed to allow certain signs on private property adjacent to state right of ways. The court issued an order clarifying that owners or occupants of private property located adjacent to state highway right of ways may place a small, temporary, political campaign sign on their property during election season provided they have not been paid to display them. The order specifies that the signs can’t be larger by four feet by eight feet in size.
According to the DOT, the order does not allow political signs to be placed within state highway right of ways and it does not authorize other forms of outdoor advertising.
Federal and state law and public demand require the DOT to regularly inspect and maintain over 5,600 miles of state roads. This is done to maintain the safety of the traveling public, comply with laws and mandates, and to preserve Alaska’s unique and scenic beauty.
Click here for more information and examples of illegally placed political signs.
