San Antonio Ordered to Remove Rainbow Crosswalks

The Texas Department of Transportation has ordered the city of San Antonio to remove its rainbow crosswalks by Jan. 15, according to the San Antonio Current.

The decision was made in response to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that municipalities remove "social, political, and ideological messages" from their streets.

"Texans expect their taxpayer dollars to be used wisely, not advance political agendas on Texas roadways," Abbott said in a statement at the time.

"Today, I directed the Texas Department of Transportation to ensure Texas counties and cities remove any and all political ideologies from our streets."

Maria Salazar, chair of San Antonio’s LGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee said Abbott’s directive was "clearly aimed at the LGBTQ+ community. Because I don't see any other projects being targeted."

"It's based out of homophobia. It's based out of fear. It's based on erasing a whole community," she added.

Krista Cover, an attorney with the City of San Antonio, said the city will "continue to recognize and support our LGBTQ+ community by installing rainbow-colored sidewalk treatment one block north and one block south of the intersection."

The city of San Antonio filed an exemption request on Nov. 5, arguing the intersections with the rainbow crosswalks — on North Main Avenue and East Evergreen Street within the Pride Cultural Heritage District — had fewer accidents since the crosswalks' 2018 installation.

But Traffic Safety Division Director George Villarreal said the agency "does not consider this exemption request acceptable" and ordered the city to submit an updated exemption request addressing compliance or submit a plan of action before Dec. 10 for removing the crosswalks.

"Failure to comply with this directive may result in the withholding or denial of state or federal funds and/or the suspension of agreements between TxDOT and the city," Villarreal added.

Assistant City Manager John Peterek, in response, said the city "continues to believe that the crosswalks in question are safer than before the installation of the rainbow-colored paint, that the intersection is safer than comparable intersections, and that it demonstrated the importance of the crosswalks to the Pride Cultural Heritage District."

"Nevertheless, the city will respect TxDOT’s decision."

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