Studio has announced a plan dubbed the Hollywood Skyway that would transport visitors from their Burbank lot to the famed sign

Warner Bros has announced a plan to construct an ambitious aerial tramway to transport visitors to the Hollywood sign.

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According to the Los Angeles Times, the studio is expecting to pay an estimated $100m for the project which has been dubbed the Hollywood Skyway. The proposal would see tourists taking a six-minute ride that starts next to their studio lot in Burbank before heading to a new visitors center by the sign, first erected in 1923. Ticket revenue would be split between Warner Bros and the city.

“The Hollywood sign is an important historic and globally recognized landmark for the city of Los Angeles,” a studio spokesperson said. “The sign’s fame, however, has created unintended negative effects such as heavy traffic in adjacent residential areas and related safety concerns.” The tramway would also “create a unique, first-class educational experience”, the studio said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The $100m project is aimed at reducing traffic. Photograph: Warner Bros

The tramway is one of a number of proposed solutions to parking and footfall problems near the sign. The studio believes their idea will lead to the least amount of environmental destruction, with local concerns over Griffith Park, an area that is home to mountain lions.

“There’s going to be a lot of people pushing for the tram for the relief it will provide the local residents,” Gerry Hans, a board member for non-profit group Friends of Griffith Park, said to the Los Angeles Times. “But at the same time there are going to be people wanting to preserve Griffith Park for the great urban wilderness it is.”

It’s estimated that the project would take about five years to build, including a lengthy environmental review process.

Earlier this year, a city-commissioned report was released that suggested a second Hollywood sign to alleviate congestion. “The backdrop behind the sign would still look similar to the original if it is located on the mountain,” the report read. “This would give the city the opportunity to promote the replica sign viewpoints as more accessible locations for photos than in the residential neighborhoods south of the park.”