City crews in Dallas have begun taking down rainbow-painted crosswalks as part of a statewide directive requiring the removal of nonstandard roadway markings.
The work started Monday and involves eliminating 30 crosswalks across the city, including several in the Oak Lawn neighborhood, after state officials determined the designs did not meet traffic safety guidelines.
According to a March 20 memo from the City of Dallas to local leaders, the action follows a notification issued last October by the Texas Department of Transportation stating that decorative crosswalks supporting the LGBT community violate the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. City officials sought an exemption, but the request was denied Jan. 15.
In response, Dallas submitted a compliance plan on Jan. 30, committing to bring all crosswalks into conformity within 90 days while considering other ways to highlight community identity through public art. Officials expect the removals to be completed by the end of April.
Although the crosswalks are located on public streets, they were funded privately. In December 2019, a foundation raised more than $128,000 to install 10 of the crosswalks along Cedar Springs Road, with additional backing from local businesses, organizations and individual donors.
The foundation, along with the Cedar Springs Merchants Association, also covered ongoing maintenance and reinstallation costs over time.
“Let’s be clear — these crosswalks are being removed at a time when [LGBT] visibility is being challenged across Texas,” said Tony Vedda, president of the LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce Foundation. “While the city may point to resurfacing as the immediate cause, the broader reality is that state and federal pressures have made it increasingly difficult for cities to support expressions of inclusion.”
The removals come after an executive order issued by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directing the Texas Department of Transportation to ensure that cities and counties “remove any and all political ideologies from our streets,” including rainbow-style crosswalks that have appeared in multiple Texas cities.
The order also warned that municipalities failing to comply with federal roadway standards could risk losing state and federal transportation funding, as well as face potential “suspension of agreements with TxDOT.”
Despite the directive, Dallas officials decided earlier this year to allow Oak Lawn United Methodist Church to keep its rainbow-painted front steps for the next three years, even though they were installed in defiance of the governor’s order.
