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The safety argument falls apart in one sentence
A Bloomberg Philanthropies study of 17 asphalt art sites found a 49.6% reduction in crashes involving pedestrians at colored crosswalks. Drivers were 27% more likely to yield to pedestrians. Injuries dropped 36.5%. Seattle’s transportation department called its rainbow crosswalks’ safety record “phenomenal” — collisions at those intersections dropped to nearly zero.
Texas is ordering cities to remove them anyway.
What is being erased
Governor Abbott directed TxDOT in October 2025 to enforce removal of any roadway markings that don’t direct traffic. Cities that refuse lose state and federal transportation funding. Austin’s deadline is June 22, 2026.
What Texas is ordering removed
| Installation | Location | What it represents | Installed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow Pride crosswalks | Austin, 4th & Colorado | LGBTQ+ community, installed on National Coming Out Day | Oct 2021 |
| ”Black Artists Matter” mural | Austin, East 11th Street | Black artists and history, $55K project with 70 volunteers | June 2020 |
| Burnt orange “TEXAS” | Austin, near UT campus | University of Texas | Years |
| Cedar Springs Road crosswalk | Dallas, Oak Lawn | Historic LGBTQ+ district | Years |
| Montrose Pride crosswalk | Houston | LGBTQ+ community, removed days after repaving | 2023 |
| Guadalupe River crosswalks | Kerrville | Blue/teal nature art of the river and night sky | Recent |
Kerrville’s crosswalks are blue and teal. They depict a river and stars. They have nothing to do with politics, Pride, or Black history. They are being removed too. That is the detail that makes the “safety” and “political messaging” arguments collapse at the same time.
The funding threat
TxDOT threatened to withhold state and federal transportation funds, suspend road maintenance agreements, and jeopardize a $25 million Lady Bird Lake boardwalk project. San Antonio has $2.3 million in grants at stake. Dallas was ordered to remove 30 decorative crosswalks.
“We’re going to comply with the law.”
That is Austin Mayor Kirk Watson’s response. No legal challenge. No coalition with other cities. Compliance.
The pipeline from state to federal
This is not just Texas. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy launched the “SAFE ROADS Initiative” in July 2025, sending letters to all 50 governors. Florida already removed the Pulse Nightclub memorial crosswalk in Orlando — a tribute to the 49 people killed in the 2016 shooting. The FHWA terminated its own Austin study on crosswalk safety before it produced results.
The FHWA’s own interpretation letter says non-retroreflective colored pavement within crosswalk lines is permitted as long as standard white lines are maintained. The government’s position contradicts the government’s own rules.
This connects to Texas HB 2127 (the Death Star preemption law), Florida HB 1001 (the anti-diversity law), and Trump’s Executive Order 14173 ending DEI programs. Each builds on the last. The crosswalks are the most visible target because they are literally painted on the ground where everyone walks.
What you can do
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Call Austin City Council before the June 22 deadline. Ask whether the city explored legal options before agreeing to comply. Find your council member.
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Contact TxDOT. Ask them to cite the specific safety data supporting removal of Kerrville’s nature crosswalks. TxDOT contact page.
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Write your state legislators. Ask whether they support using transportation funding as a weapon against public art. Use Resist Bot — text RESIST to 50409.
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Share the safety data. The Bloomberg study showing a 49.6% pedestrian crash reduction is the single strongest counterargument. Link to the study.
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Document what’s being lost. Photograph the crosswalks and murals before they’re removed. The “Black Artists Matter” mural on East 11th Street was painted by 70 volunteers. That history should not disappear without a record.
Read more on the Texas state page and the LGBTQ Rights hub. This story also connects to Civil Rights and Red State Power Grabs.