Outdoor Advertising on the Roadside
Outdoor advertising near state significance roads may be installed outside the road protection zone. To install advertising outside the road protection zone, permits should be coordinated with land owners. SE Lithuanian Road Adminstration (later – the Road Administration) does not issue permits for outdoor advertising of this type.
“First of all, it is illegal to install outside advertising on the road protection zone. However, the key point is traffic safety. Billboards installed too close to the road may limit visibility and distract drivers’ attention, which causes danger to other road users. Even a few seconds count and drivers’ attention may be distracted from their main task to drive safely and to follow the situation on the road,” says the Director of the Road Administration Remigijus Lipkevičius.
The Road Administration as a holder of state significance roads maintains that it is strictly prohibited to install any outside advertising, would it be temporary, wooden, concrete, etc. billboards, especially within the road protection one (road ditches or on the road edge).
The Law on Special Land Use stipulates that the protection zone on main roads is 70-metres, national roads 50 metres and that of regional roads 20 metres on both sides of the road.
It should be noted that the installation of outdoor advertising near state significance roads on the road lane or the road protection zone without permission (on the road lane or road protection zone) imposes an administrative liability or a fine. Moreover, the road owner exercises a right to remove outdoor advertising in one month upon a written notice, costs to be covered by an infringer.
When outdoor advertising is installed near state significance roads, the provisions of the Lithuanian Republic Law on Advertising, the Law on Roads and the Law on Special Land Use shall be taken into consideration.
State significance roads belong to the state. They are managed, used and disposed by SE Lithuanian Road Administration. In Lithuania, there are ca 21 thousand state significance roads.