An MBTA plan to convert an existing static billboard at Savin Hill station to an electronic board facing the Southeast Expressway is getting push-back from neighbors.

The sign at S. Sydney Street and Bay Street adjacent to the Savin Hill station platform helps the T generate revenue, with the agency saying it can make four- to five times the revenue by going digital.

“The MBTA has applied to convert the existing static billboard to digital,” read a statement from the T to The Reporter. “The MBTA also uses digital billboards for MBTA-related content, service information, and public safety messages such as Amber alerts. Revenue from billboards helps fund the MBTA’s critical maintenance and service delivery needs.”

A spokesman for the T said a site visit was conducted late last month with the state Office of Outdoor Advertising (OOA), which has oversight in the process of locating and converting billboards. The agency expects to schedule a hearing with the OOA next month.

The Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association (CSHCA) will stand against the switch, according to president Bill Walczak.

“The CSHCA is absolutely opposed to turning that billboard into a digital billboard,” he said in an interview. “There are several homes directly across from it and it will be disastrous for those people to deal with that kind of lighting 24-hours a day. In this case, we are taking a very strong stand against this one because it would introduce a very uncomfortable and difficult situation for those who live across from it. And in general, we are against them building up the corridor with billboards in Dorchester – enough already.”

A digital billboard conversion on private property adjacent to Boston Bowl drew the ire of neighbors in Port Norfolk in 2023, and that resulted in a major battle that landed in court. The most recent hearing in Superior Court came last month due to a deadlock between the neighbors, the attorney general’s Office, and the applicant.

Meanwhile, a billboard conversion on the exterior of the Polish American Citizen’s Club on Boston Street (facing the highway) also played out in a long Zoning Board of Appeal and court battle. That billboard was just installed last month after three years of back and forth.