KYTC Reminds Owsley County Residents: Highway Signs Face Removal

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's Department of Highways District 10 has put Owsley County residents, political candidates, and business owners on notice: unauthorized signs planted along state highway rights of way are illegal and will be removed.

The reminder arrives as 2026 local election campaigns heat up and KYTC crews prepare for spring mowing cycles along US and KY routes throughout the county. The cabinet has received complaints about illegal signs, and removal operations are already being scheduled in advance of mowing and road work, or conducted as standalone efforts when no other pressing maintenance needs compete for crew time.

The scope of the prohibition is broad. Campaign signs, yard sale postings, business advertisements, real estate placards, and event notices all qualify as unauthorized under both Kentucky law and KYTC policy. Signs attached to utility poles within the right of way are equally prohibited, as are any signs, stickers, flyers, posters, balloons, or streamers fastened to stop signs, highway markers, guardrails, or right-of-way fences.

Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock spelled out the standard in plain terms. "Campaign signs should be displayed only on privately-owned property," Hancock said. "We want to support and encourage the democratic process, but not at the expense of our motorists' safety."

The safety rationale behind the policy is specific. Signs blocking sight lines at intersections, obstructing mowing equipment, or installed with heavy wooden or metal stakes pose documented hazards to both passing drivers and highway maintenance crews performing mowing, ditch cleaning, and litter removal along state routes.

When KYTC crews pull signs, what happens next depends on the sign's size. Larger signs are transported to the state highway garage in the applicable county and held for two weeks, giving owners a window to reclaim them. Smaller signs held in place with metal ground frames will be discarded immediately rather than stored.

Where a sign may legally stand depends on the road. In areas with sidewalks, all signage must be set back behind the sidewalk line. Where no sidewalk exists, signs must sit behind the ditch line and completely outside any area routinely mowed or maintained by highway crews. On four-lane highways with controlled or limited access, no sign may be placed on the highway side of the fence line, nor attached to the fence itself.

Anyone who has already placed a sign along a state route in Owsley County should move it to private property before KYTC crews arrive, because once the smaller ones go into the discard pile, there is no retrieval option.