The Texas Department of Transportation gave Dallas until Jan. 31 to remove its decorative crosswalks, which include LGBTQ+ rainbow and Black Lives Matter designs, according to a memo by City Manager Kimberly Tolbert.
If the crosswalk art is not removed by the end of the month, Dallas could face federal or state funding cuts and a suspension of agreements between the city and TxDOT, according to a letter TxDOT sent to Tolbert on Jan. 15.
City officials did not say whether they will comply with the order or continue to appeal, but the a Jan. 16 memo from Tolbert said staff will work with the City Attorney's Office on a response.
The deadline comes after a federal initiative by U.S. Secretary Sean Duffy and an October executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott requiring all cities to remove decorative crosswalks, saying they posed a safety hazard and were political.
"TxDOT did not clarify how our crosswalks impede pedestrian and vehicle safety as requested by our appeal letter," Tolbert said her memo.
The deadline for that order was Nov. 7, but Tolbert requested an exemption on Nov. 6 for 30 crosswalk designs the city identified.
TxDOT responded to Tolbert on Dec. 4, saying the exemption request needed to be signed by a licensed traffic engineer and they had six days to remove the crosswalks. Tolbert told the department they would not be able to provide a signature, but that the crosswalks do not pose a safety risk.
Over a month later, TxDOT is again asking the city to either submit a plan for removing the designs or get a licensed traffic engineer to sign the exemption request. It also asked the city to not install any more designs before the Jan. 31 deadline and "continue to prioritize pedestrian and traffic safety."
Many Texas cities have already complied with Abbott's order, including Houston, Austin and San Antonio — making Dallas one of the last holdouts.
A spokesperson for TxDOT referred to the letter sent to the city when asked for comment.
Most of the city's 30 crosswalk designs are rainbow Pride crosswalks in the Oak Lawn neighborhood and Black Lives Matter crosswalks in South Dallas. Those were created and funded by private organizations with city approval.
Advocates say these designs express support for the communities living in the area and don't affect traffic safety. Democrat State Sen. Royce West, who represents South Dallas, told KERA in November that removing the Black Lives Matter crosswalks would be "whitewashing history."
But it appears not all designs will be equally affected. Abby Mancini, marketing and multimedia coordinator for the City of University Park, said the Southern Methodist University mustang logo created last year at the intersection of Hillcrest and Daniel avenues is in compliance with the governor's order, but didn't provide any further comment as to why.
In the meantime, groups in the city are finding ways around the directive to express themselves. The Oak Lawn United Methodist Church painted its church's steps rainbow — a move the Dallas Landmark Commission recently upheld.
Nick Starling, a spokesperson for the city, said members of the Transportation and Public Works Department will be meeting with the attorney's office later this week to discuss TxDOT's deadline.
Dylan Duke is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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