By KRWG News
New Mexico – Federal highway officials have ordered the state to demolish an illegal billboard owned by New Mexico House Speaker Ben Lujan by the end of next week.
The state Department of Transportation informed Lujan earlier this year that the unpermitted billboard would stay up until road work began on a portion of U.S. 84-285 south of Espanola. But the Albuquerque Journal reported in a copyrighted story on Saturday that the Federal Highway Administration has now told state transportation officials that the billboard must come down by Aug. 21.
Records show Lujan and his wife have collected thousands of dollars a year leasing the 20-foot-high billboard along U.S. 84-285 south of Espanola. The sign hasn't been permitted since 1993.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.