Outdoor advertising displays: permits: new alignments.

Senator Strickland's outdoor advertising legislation addresses permit processing delays for billboards along newly constructed California highways, modifying how the Department of Transportation evaluates applications for advertising displays. The measure targets a specific regulatory barrier that currently prevents billboard permit approvals until highway construction projects receive final acceptance from the department.

Under the proposed change, the Department of Transportation must process permit applications for advertising displays along new highway alignments once the roadway opens for public vehicle traffic, regardless of whether the overall construction project has received final departmental acceptance. This alters existing department regulations that only allow permit processing after formal project completion.

The measure maintains all other outdoor advertising requirements established under state law, which regulate the placement of displays near interstate highways and federal-aid roadways. The Department of Transportation retains authority over permit applications based on other existing criteria beyond project completion status.