Rainbow-painted crosswalks in Texas could become a thing of the past as cities scramble to comply with an executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott.
In an Oct. 8 order issued by Abbott, surface markings, signs and signals that do not directly support traffic control or safety are considered “non-standard” and strictly prohibited “including the use of symbols, flags, or other markings conveying social, political, or ideological messages.”
The Republican governor directed the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to take steps to ensure Texas counties and cities “remove any and all political ideologies from our streets,” including LGBT rainbow-style crosswalks that have surfaced in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and other cities in the Lone Star State.
Abbott’s order warns that any city that refuses to comply with federal road standards could see state and federal road funding withheld, along with the potential “suspension of agreements with TxDOT.”
Shortly after the governor’s announcement last month, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) announced the agency would re-stripe a rainbow crosswalk in Houston, stating, “We recognize the significance this crosswalk has to the community, which is why our project team restored the infrastructure to its pre-construction condition. However, given the recent directive, we will comply with the order to preserve support that is essential to our mission of providing safe, clean, reliable, and accessible transit to all communities that depend on our services.”
Texas is one of several states working to align with a July memo from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in which the secretary instructed governors to take part in the national SAFE ROADS initiative. According to the letter, the initiative is aimed at keeping “non-freeway arterials […] including crosswalk and intersection markings […] free from distractions.”
In addition to all 50 state governors, Duffy’s letter went to the mayor of Washington, D.C., and the governor of Puerto Rico.
Duffy’s letter clarified the government’s 2013 memo from the Federal Highway Administration defining crosswalk art as “contrary to the goal of increased safety and most likely could be a contributing factor to a false sense of security for both motorists and pedestrians.”
With the deadline fast approaching, the city of Dallas, which voted in June to add 10 rainbow crosswalks to intersections in the Oak Lawn area, has not yet officially responded to Abbott’s order.
Last month, the city of Austin requested a waiver from TxDOT that would allow its current street art, which includes at least four rainbow-colored crosswalks, to remain in place despite Abbott’s order.
In addition to Texas, several cities in Florida were ordered in September to remove their crosswalk art due to Duffy’s letter, including street paintings in St. Petersburg and Miami Beach, where a crosswalk “meant to celebrate the history and contributions” of the LGBT-identified community was removed, according to The Associated Press.
