No oasis from ads, tollway contemplates electronic billboards at rest stops

There's money to be made selling ads on tollway oases but the public won't see any payoff in the foreseeable future.

Illinois State Toll Highway Authority officials are considering approval of a sublease between SFI Chicago Tollway LLC, which manages its seven oases, and CBS Outdoor Inc. to mount digital billboards on the exterior of the buildings.

The ads would change every 10 seconds and offer a chance to promote the oases, provide public service announcements and safety advisories as well as commercial advertisements, CBS Outdoor Vice President of Real Estate Mitch Matson said at a Monday meeting. CBS Outdoor is a subsidiary of the CBS Corp. network.

The billboards would be displayed on the masonry sides of the oases, not on the glass walls.

Assuming the signs are approved and erected, the agency intends to initiate a three-year study into whether accidents, traffic or speeding can be linked to the signs. SFI would subsidize the costs of the study.

The tollway receives a base rent from SFI for leasing retail space at the oases. That can switch over to a percentage of profits if it exceeds the base rent, but such a situation has never occurred because of vacancies at the rest stops. Leasing the billboard space puts the tollway about halfway to that goal.

CBS officials said they did not have estimates of how much revenue the ads would generate.

Tollway Director and Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner was curious if the agency would get any exposure on the billboards in prime time, saying “there's a lot of opportunities to advertise at 3 a.m. but not a lot of traffic then.”

Matson promised the agency would get spots in the day time.

Tollway Director Thomas Canham asked about distracted driving, noting “my concern would be the height and line of sight (of the signs).”

Matson said studies have shown the billboards to be safety neutral, citing research by Virginia Tech's Transportation Institute. However, one study by the VTTI in 2007 which came to that conclusion was paid for by the outdoor sign industry.

Digital billboards CBS has near the Bay Bridge toll plaza in San Francisco and Lincoln Tunnel entrance to New York City have not resulted in accidents or safety complaints, Matson said.

The oases signs would be about 40 feet by 12 feet.