A giant digital advertising billboard is planned next to a main road in Bristol and has sparked concern about road safety. Critics opposing the plan say the billboard could dazzle and distract drivers and are urging Bristol City Council to refuse planning permission.
The billboard could be installed next to St Philips Causeway, which runs from Brislington to Lawrence Hill, next to the waste transfer station on Days Road. A similar billboard already exists further down the road, closer to the Brislington end near the Avonmeads shopping centre.
Councillors on the development control B committee will vote on Wednesday, November 20, on whether to approve permission for the plans submitted by JCDecaux, a French advertising firm. There were 93 objections received by the council, with opponents arguing the plans should be refused.
One said: “It would dominate the view of any passing cyclist or driver, damaging road safety. The digital ad unit shows changing images and would create a distraction to drivers. The digital ad units consume vast amounts of energy and disrupt local wildlife.”
Another added: “I have personally experienced issues on the Lawrence Hill roundabout several times where drivers have displayed erratic behaviour when passing the digital display there. I have had to swerve violently on the M32 as a driver in front of me drifted out of one lane, and on another occasion I have been dazzled myself by the displays there.
“I have also found myself reading the displays at Avonmeads when I should have been focusing on the road. Any argument that these screens are not distracting is nonsense. It is obvious to anyone that they are. If they weren’t, then they wouldn’t be effective advertising.”
The display will be 6.4 metres wide and 3.95 metres high, not including the supporting column. Council planning officers are recommending that the committee grants permission, partly as there have been no recorded collisions so far at the location.
A council officer on the transport development management team said: “As the display would not be in sight of any signal heads or located at a junction and providing the images do not rapidly change and the transition is carefully managed, based on the fact that there has been no recorded accidents to date at this location, Transport Development Management considers that it would not unduly dazzle or distract passing motorists.”