The City of Dallas began removing crosswalks honoring Black and LGBTQ+ people Monday after an October directive from Gov. Greg Abbott ordering all "political," non-standard surface markings be removed.
Many rainbow crosswalks in the historically gay neighborhood of Oak Lawn were already washed away by early afternoon Monday. Black Lives Matter crosswalks in South Dallas and other decorative designs in Uptown — 30 in total — are also slated for removal. The city said in a memo last week standard crosswalks will be installed by April 28.
"We weren't prepared to see all of them removed this week," said Tony Vedda, CEO and president of the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, as he watched a truck affixed with a power washer spray down one crosswalk. "It was a little bit of a shock to us, and the end of a long road."
Most of the crosswalks were not painted using public funds. In the case of many of the rainbow crosswalks, Vedda's organization began fundraising for the project in 2019. He said by 2020 the group gave the city a check for $128,250 to install the crosswalks.
The LGBTQ chamber raised another $45,000 and had the crosswalks repainted in 2025 just a few months before Abbott's order.
Dallas requested an exemption on several of the crosswalks, but the requests were ultimately denied on Jan. 15. The Texas Department of Transportation told the city it could lose federal and state project funding if it didn't comply.
"Is there more that could have been done? Absolutely," Lee Daugherty, a community activist and owner of Alexandre's on Cedar Springs, told KERA when asked about the city's efforts. "Is it worth pulling out all your guns out and going to battle over thermoplastic on concrete? There could be some bigger battles ahead."
The Office of Arts and Culture will conduct three meetings across the impacted areas to discuss ways for neighborhoods to express their identity, according to the city's memo.
"I know the City of Dallas was forced to do this, but it will be interesting to see how we meet at a table in the near future," Daugherty said.
Dylan Duke is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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