Across the land, rainbow crosswalks face orders to erase ‘asphalt art’

Rainbow colors adorn the downtown Orlando intersection that leads to the site where dozens died during a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in 2016. The crosswalk was decorated to show the city’s solidarity with the LGBTQ community and to memorialize the 49 people killed inside the popular gay club.

The colors may not last much longer, to Carlito Diaz Rodriguez’s pained dismay.

“That crosswalk is really important,” said Rodriguez, whose cousin was shot in the attack at Pulse but survived. The artwork was Orlando’s response to make the community feel “comfortable and welcome and loved.” And in the aftermath of “a horrible, horrible situation … it did create this bond.”

Across the state and the country, this and thousands of other brightly painted street crossings would be paved over under guidance recently issued by the administrations of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and President Donald Trump. The dual directives call for the erasure of “asphalt art.”

In the federal letter, sent July 1, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy gave states 60 days to study crosswalks at intersections and develop a list of “compliance concerns” in their states as part of his SAFE ROADS initiative. Duffy said “nonstandard” colors don’t belong on streets.

“Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork,” he said in a statement announcing the initiative.

The memo from the Florida Department of Transportation took a similar stance and warned city and county leaders that the state could withhold funding if they didn’t acquiesce: “This includes directing the removal of noncompliant traffic control devices and surface markings, including pavement art installations.”

Jared Perdue, who heads the state agency, also raised the issue of autonomous vehicles, writing that “consistent application of pavement surfaces is critical” for them.

The available data don’t bear out the safety concerns. A 2022 study by Bloomberg Philanthropies, an organization that funds street art projects, examined the crash history at 17 asphalt art sites across the country where there was a minimum of two years of crash statistics. It found 83 fewer crashes at the analyzed intersections — more than a 50% decrease compared with data from before the crosswalks were painted.

“My thoughts are that this is political in nature and not directly related to traffic safety,” said Samuel Kaufman, a city commissioner in Key West, where a Duval Street intersection painted with rainbow crosswalks in 2015 quickly became a popular tourist draw. “City officials have checked all traffic incidents over many years, and there has not been a single reported traffic related incident related to the crosswalks.”

Numerous cities in Florida have promoted street paintings as part of their culture. In Key West, according to Kaufman, the four rainbows at Duval and Petronia streets are “one of the most photographed areas on the island.”

The commissioners there last week approved a proclamation declaring them “a treasured cultural district” — one way supporters hope to save them from being paved over. A rally ahead of the vote drew more than 100 people calling for preservation.

“It’s part of the identity of our community of being an inclusive place,” Kaufman said, “a place that welcomes all people, regardless of who you are.”

Some Florida cities have already decided to return such crosswalks to standard asphalt rather than fight back. Boynton Beach paved over one shortly after the city received the memo from the state. Gainesville city commissioners voted on Aug. 7 to remove three rainbow crosswalks, saying they had no choice because the city cannot afford to replace the transportation funds the state is threatening to cancel.

In Orlando, the rainbow crosswalk shares the streets with other colorful asphalt decor — murals, rainbows, even swans on their way to the city’s main park, where a flock of live ones grace the small Lake Eola. A permanent memorial to the victims of the Pulse shooting will be built next year, with plans to still incorporate the crosswalk.

“It’s part of the design … that the state of Florida has given approval to,” said state Sen. Carlos Guillermo-Smith, a Democrat from Orlando. “More importantly, it’s a symbol not only of LBGTQ people, but also our city’s own history, and the way our community came together in the wake of that tragedy.”

Like Kaufman in Orlando, Guillermo-Smith said the warnings to remove painted crosswalks are based on politics.

“Targeting rainbows is about erasing the LGBTQ community,” he said. “Targeting the other crosswalks, like the swans, that were carefully planned and enhance the community and make the streets safer, that’s just absurd.”