The drive from Pearland to Houston is perhaps one of the most scenic in the sprawling metropolis. On a clear day, commuters can see the downtown Houston skyline towering above spiraling concrete freeways. So why is this commute a notch above, say, a drive along I-45? The answer: Hwy. 288 has no billboards cluttering the landscape.

Hwy. 288, which opened in Pearland in the ’80s, is one of the newer freeways in the Greater Houston area. In an effort to improve Houston’s aesthetic appeal and encourage economic development, Scenic Houston successfully lobbied the city to adopt its first sign code in the ’80s to prohibit new billboard construction, according to the nonprofit. Since then, billboards have been on the decline across the city, dropping from more than 10,000 in 1980 to fewer than 2,000 billboards, according to the nonprofit.

The Texas Department of Transportation also provided funding for forestation and greenscape efforts along Hwy. 288 in Houston for added aesthetics. TxDOT permits billboards in unincorporated areas.