Jon Campbell is reporting for lohud [dot] com state highway crews began removing the I Love NY highway signs November 7, as part of the state's deal with federal highway regulators to avoid a $14 million penalty. The state will ultimately remove approximately 400 of the 500 signs that dot the state's major roadways. The signs are being removed after a protracted battle with the Federal Highway Administration, which said the signs posed a dangerous distraction to drivers and violated state and federal highway rules. A total of 103 the so-called motherboard signs, the first sign in groupings of five blue signs in succession, will remain on the roads. The state will, however, have to cover advertising for the iloveny.com tourism website and app on those signs. The four "follow-up" signs will be removed and placed at rest areas, state parks and other off-highway sites. The state intends to complete the sign removal by Nov. 21. The federal government withheld $14 million in highway funding from New York in 2018, after the state ignored numerous warnings to take the signs down. Read the full story at lohud [dot] com.