Deadline looms for removal of Florida rainbow crosswalks

The city of Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday evening was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting to discuss a statewide effort to remove rainbow paint from crosswalks in multiple cities. Officials in the city earlier this month received a letter from the Florida Department of Transportation requesting a response to the department’s orders for all municipalities to repaint all crosswalks to the standard black-and-white pattern. The order stems from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s updated manual on uniform traffic control devices that prohibits pavement markings on state and local roads. State authorities identified four locations in Fort Lauderdale that must be repainted by the Sept. 4 deadline. While some cities have already complied with the order, others are challenging the move, including Miami Beach where Commissioner Alex Fernandez plans to appeal the issue.

Have any crosswalks already been repainted? Crews with FDOT this week repainted a rainbow crosswalk in Orlando for the second time. The crosswalk was part of the memorial remembering the 49 people killed at the Pulse LGBTQ nightclub in 2016. The state first repainted the crosswalk last week without notifying the city, according to Mayor Buddy Dyer. Protesters and pro-LGBTQ activists repainted the rainbow colors with chalk the following day. Demonstrators across the state have protested the state’s actions and characterized the repainting project as an attack on the LGBTQ community. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday defended the removal of crosswalk painting, saying crews are repainting streets regardless of the artwork’s messaging.

How did this situation start? U.S. Transportation Department Secretary Sean Duffy last month ordered all 50 states and Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico to remove crosswalk artwork. In his letter to governors, he said the push was part of the SAFE ROADS national initiative which in part seeks to make it easier to interpret right-of-way rules on roadways. Duffy directed each state to create a list of areas with the highest safety concerns within 60 days of receiving his letter.

Dig deeper: From the archives, read our reporting about the Pulse nightclub shooting.