CommentsGELFAND’S WORLD--Drivers on the 110 freeway have recently been accosted with a digital billboard that flashes everything from the latest movie posters to attorney ads.
This isn't even the latest episode of a money-hungry corporate environment violating once-accepted boundaries. The most egregious violation so far is the outright sale of two lanes on the 110 to the rich folks in the form of the Fastrak toll lanes. But things are about to get worse. Much worse.
The 405 has become something of a scare word in Angeleno parlance. Certainly, the section between the airport and Westwood has developed a fearsome reputation for long delays and bumper-to-bumper gridlock. But motorists could at least look forward to eased traffic and a quicker drive along the 405-mountain pass that separates the city from the San Fernando Valley.
And that section of steep multilane freeway, technically referred to as the Sepulveda Pass, combines hillside driving with a view of the cliffs and palisades along that section of road.
But there's more, because visitors to the Getty Center along the western precipice have been treated to a magnificent view. It's been something out of the glory of Greece, which goes with the art collection. Museum visitors could connect with classical antiquities and then wander along the mountain top, looking over the far-flung hilltops towards the Pacific and -- strikingly -- directly across the canyon created by the Sepulveda Pass. It's been a magnificent sight, one that generations of visitors looked forward to showing to their grandchildren in some future decade.
Alas.
The city fathers couldn't seem to leave well enough alone. The problem has something to do with the newly found ability to slap digital signage not only on every phone, but now also in the form of increasingly enormous structures. And it's all got to do with the greed of a governmental system that can never find enough dollars to do its next project, no matter how generous the taxpayers have been with bond issues.
The problem for us motorists, for Getty patrons, and for generations to come is situated along that stark hillside running along the eastern slope that faces the Getty from the other side of the freeway, overlooking the Sepulveda Pass and the road below. There's plenty of room for signage, and this is what has inspired the latest greedy foray into our eyes and minds.
It turns out that with the new technology, it's not that difficult (or expensive) to create the electronic equivalent of a billboard, but now 200 feet in height and up to a quarter of a mile (or even half a mile) long. I would have ended that sentence with a string of exclamation points, but I think the words shout out, all by themselves. Unlike traditional billboards, these digital monstrosities won't face the line of traffic, but will extend lengthwise along the cliffside along the city basin side of the pass.
A half mile of electronic billboards the height of a 10 or 15 story building -- Why so high and so lengthy? It's got to do with the experience of freeway driving. People traveling northbound along the 405 are going pretty fast, and they don't have a lot of time to read the fine print, whether it's along one of the developments or on a road sign. So, make it tall and make it long, and the consumers will be forced to pay attention.
Ray Bradbury conceived of the same idea, but in a science fiction piece from many years ago. Then the owners of Dodger Stadium and other such arenas figured out that they could run animated digital signs all around the stadium. So, imagine you are in Dodger Stadium with that sign flashing on and off, but you are trying to drive through at 65 miles per hour.
The story has been slow to come out. Not the least of the reasons for this was, of course, the concern by local government interests and commercial signage companies that there would be backlash against the idea. A few locals have gotten an inkling of the scope of the project due to the surveyors quietly setting up all along the frontage road and trails, but administrators are keeping mum, as if it were all some sort of seasonal joke.
Those of a more paranoid frame of mind might begin to wonder why the city is now talking about building an above-ground high speed passenger carrier through the Sepulveda Pass instead of the previously promised light-rail tunnel. Well, now you have the answer. There will be more eyes to view the ads if you build the train above ground.
Respectfully submitted to CityWatch this First of April 2019, in the memory of John Bogert.
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One question. Did Attorney General William Barr inadvertently send out his 4-page letter about the Mueller report a week before April 1st instead of on the obviously intended date?
(Bob Gelfand writes on science, culture, and politics for CityWatch. He can be reached at [email protected])
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