Saint Paul’s years-long billboard battle has hit another delay, leaving a proposed electronic sign near the Highway 280 and I-94 interchange in limbo once again. The project would replace a familiar static freeway billboard with a bright, changeable display — assuming the city eventually says yes.
Outfront Media wants variances to convert the sign and revise the city’s billboard sign-credit rules, but the Saint Paul Planning Commission did not take up the matter at its scheduled July 31 meeting, according to My Villager. The commission’s official agenda listed no public hearings and no billboard item, so the latest round ended without a decision.
Outfront Wants A Static Sign Swapped For Digital
The proposal concerns an existing east-facing billboard west of Highway 280 and north of I-94. Outfront is seeking permission to replace the 14-by-48-foot static sign with a lit digital or dynamic billboard of the same size.
The request is tied to Saint Paul’s sign-credit policy, which allows billboard companies to remove smaller signs and use those removals as credits toward a new digital freeway display. Outfront says it has removed or plans to remove nearly 40 neighborhood billboard faces, although some of the claimed credits have drawn questions over when and how the signs were taken down.
Neighborhood Groups Say The Sign Could Distract Drivers
Saint Anthony Park and Union Park district councils, along with Scenic Saint Paul, oppose the conversion. They argue that a changing display near a busy interchange could distract motorists, while also warning that the public could eventually be stuck with relocation costs if I-94 is rebuilt, as detailed by My Villager.
Paul Toman, speaking against the proposal, offered a blunt summary of the opposition: “I have never met anyone who said more billboards were needed.” The dispute is also unfolding as city staff and planning officials consider broader changes to Saint Paul’s sign regulations, including the future of special sign districts intended to preserve neighborhood aesthetics.
A Billboard Proposal That Keeps Coming Back
This is not the first time the city has wrestled with the sign. Saint Paul approved Outfront’s earlier request in 2020 after an appeal, and official City Council minutes record Outfront’s promise to remove 38 other billboards as part of the conversion.
Those 2020 variances have since expired, while Outfront has said a variety of problems prevented the sign-conversion project from being completed. The city’s planning commission is an advisory body that makes recommendations on zoning and development matters, so a future approval would still leave additional steps before the digital sign could be installed.
For now, the existing static billboard stays put and the larger policy fight remains unresolved. The next hearing date was not listed in the published city agenda, leaving drivers and nearby residents with more waiting — and the same old sign to look at in the meantime.
