The Thing Missing From Hawaii Roads Almost Changed

Most visitors never notice that Hawaii has no billboards. Neither do most residents for that matter. It is the kind of thing you only see once someone else points it out. Hawaii’s billboard-free driving is easy to take for granted. This year, a stadium bill nearly changed that, and the fight is far from over.

Think about some of Hawaii’s most epic drives. Crossing the Pali with the Koolau range ahead. Following the Hana Highway around Maui’s coast. Driving toward Diamond Head on Oahu. Heading along Kauai’s north shore with mountains on one side and ocean on the other, or up in Kokee State Park (pictured). The scenery competes with driving in Hawaii, but giant roadside ads are not part of that view.

Hawaii is one of only a few states that ban billboards. Most visitors never think about that because they have never known Hawaii any other way. This year, a bill came closer than ever to breaking that.

What’s missing from the road here.

What makes Hawaii feel different are words like beautiful beaches, year-round good weather, diverse culture and food, and spectacular landscape. But the absence of billboards also changes the way driving in Hawaii feels, even when no one is talking or thinking about it at all.

We notice it most after time away. On the mainland, billboards line freeways, announce attractions, advertise attorneys, promote fast food, and compete for attention mile after mile. After a while, most people just tune them out. But they are still part of the trip.

In Hawaii, the landscape carries all of the views. That is true driving around all of the islands where the mountains and ocean are constantly opening up. That feeling has been protected long enough that it just seemed natural and permanent. But that may not be the case.

How Hawaii got here.

The roots of Hawaii’s billboard ban go back more than a century. Beginning in 1912, residents pushed back against commercial signs appearing in places including Diamond Head, the Pali, and Punchbowl.

That movement succeeded and by 1927, the last billboard company operating in Hawaii had been dismantled, and Hawaii later codified that into law.

Today, Hawaii is joined only by Alaska, Vermont, and Maine. Organizations including The Outdoor Circle helped lead the effort and have continued defending it ever since.

That history helps explain why the issue still draws a strong response here. Hawaii’s lack of billboards is not a quirk that just happened. It is a long-standing decision about what belongs in our iconic views.

The closest challenge yet.

The reason we are talking about billboards now is that Hawaii just came closer than any previous attempt to creating an exception. This year, Senate Bill 2353 proposed allowing digital outdoor signage within the Stadium Development District as part of the roughly $4 billion New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District redevelopment project.

This was not a statewide repeal of Hawaii’s billboard ban. The proposal was confined to the Stadium Development District on Oahu, but opponents saw it as a precedent that could matter beyond one redevelopment project.

The bill surprised us in just how far it went. It passed the Senate by a 23-2 vote, passed the House with only eight opposing votes, and advanced to conference committee after the two chambers approved different versions. What happened next is that conference negotiators never produced a final agreement before the legislative session ended on May 8. SB 2353 died in conference, so at least for now, it did not become law.

Hawaii’s billboard ban remains intact. This year’s proposal, however, advanced much further than a similar 2024 effort, which died earlier in committee. That may be an indication of some turning of the tide.

Why the Hawaii billboard issue keeps returning.

Supporters say the world has changed since Hawaii first rejected billboards more than a century. Stadium Authority Executive Director Michael Yadao has argued that digital signage could provide a sustainable revenue source while also helping visitors find parking, entrances, and other destinations, while serving emergency messaging needs.

Developer Stanford Carr Development has described advertising and naming rights as standard features of modern stadium projects. Supporters say those revenue tools can help reduce reliance on public funding for major redevelopment projects.

Opponents, on the other hand, saw the proposal as more than a stadium financing tool. The Outdoor Circle warned about the precedent created by carving out exceptions to a long-standing ban, along with concerns about safety, visual impact, and county land-use authority.

Waikīkī Neighborhood Board chair Robert Finley said residents do not want to see Waikiki turned into the Las Vegas strip. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser editorial board also criticized the proposal for lacking meaningful limits on content, size, brightness, placement, and operating hours.

A related bill, SB 2074, is still on Gov. Josh Green’s desk. That measure concerns stadium naming rights and advertising revenue, not digital billboards, but it shows how much of the new stadium discussion now turns on commercial revenue.

One strange footnote.

The version of SB 2353 that advanced set its own start date at July 1, 2050, a full quarter century out. The bill died, so the date is a moot point. But it seemed strange to write such a far out date into a law supporters were fighting to pass.

Most visitors will keep driving on Hawaii’s roads without thinking about any of this. They will pass lava fields on the way to Kona, cane roads outside Lihue, Honoapiilani Highway above the water, or the open stretch toward Kaena Point and see Hawaii the way they expect it to look.

That view only exists because people fought to keep it for more than a century ago. This year, Hawaii still managed to keep it, but the vote showed how close the question came to a different answer.

What do you think? Is Hawaii’s billboard-free landscape part of what makes the islands feel different, and is it worth protecting as future development projects move forward?

By Rob and Jeff, Beat of Hawaii

We’ve spent nearly 20 years covering Hawaii from Kauai as full-time residents, reporting firsthand on the travel, the changes, and island life. The shifts that shape Hawaii often happen quietly, long before most visitors notice. We follow them closely and tell you what they mean for your trip. Join us →