Just as San Antonio and the state’s transportation agency seemed to be getting along, a new fight has broken out over the city’s rainbow crosswalk.
On Wednesday Gov. Greg Abbott joined other red-state leaders in demanding cities get rid of them, and threatened withholding state and federal funds for those that don’t comply within 30 days.
Even as city staff was still scrambling to unpack exactly what’s at stake, leaders all too familiar with past TxDOT feuds sounded resigned to a no-win situation.
“We don’t need crosswalks for pride, right?’ Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said at Thursday’s City Council meeting. “They’re nice to have, but that pride rolls on.”
San Antonio put a rainbow crosswalk at North Main Avenue and East Evergreen Street in June of 2018, and later designated the surrounding blocks a Pride Cultural Heritage District.
Gina Ortiz Jones celebrates with revelers after making the runoff election at the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. Credit: Brenda Bazán / San Antonio Report
Jones is the city’s first lesbian mayor. She celebrated there with her campaign staff on election night just last May.
She now leads a body of progressive, young leaders who once joked about being the “gayest council in Texas,” and will have the final say over whether to remove the rainbow crosswalk.
Houston, Dallas and Austin also have rainbow crosswalks. The City of Houston told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday it would re-stripe the pavement to be in compliance.
“We are now working with TxDOT to understand the state’s specific areas of local concern,” a City of San Antonio spokesman said in a statement Thursday. “There are no immediate plans to make changes to any roadways, and any future changes will occur with City Council input.”
But San Antonio already played chicken with the state over Abbott’s crusade to end “road diets” in 2022, and ultimately watched TxDOT tear up sidewalks to restore a traffic lane on its portion of the road in July of last year.
A road diet typically involves converting an existing four-lane roadway to a three-lane roadway with a center two-way, left-turn lane. This reconfiguration can improve pedestrian safety, calm traffic, provide better mobility and access for all road users.
Plans for a multimodal corridor on Broadway had once been a shared goal for the city and state. But when the state GOP came out against closing lanes, Abbott agreed, and put an end to the practice on state roads.
In the case of Broadway, TxDOT took the added step of reclaiming ownership of the road to stop a project that taxpayers had already approved as part of a bond package.
Even with a San Antonian chairing the Texas Transportation Commission at the time, the late Bruce Bugg Jr., the city was forced to cancel the project.
Since the initial dustup over Broadway, the relationship between TxDOT and San Antonio seemed to be on the mend.
The agency even awarded San Antonio $16 million for a cycle track along Market and Commerce streets downtown in November of 2023 — a peace offering on multimodal transit — but now this type of money would appear to be in jeopardy after Abbott’s announcement.
The mayor and council received an update on the matter from City Manager Erik Walsh and City Attorney Andy Segovia on Thursday morning, according to Jones’ office, and are still trying to understand the full scope of what may be impacted.
“As mayor, I remain committed to balancing our community’s transportation needs with ensuring everyone in our community feels safe, welcomed and supported,” Jones said in a statement.
Pride “Bigger Than Texas” Parade, put on by PRIDE San Antonio, down Main Street on July 30, 2018. Credit: Bonnie Arbittier / San Antonio Report
Like the road diets, the crosswalk proclamation came amid political pressure.
The Trump administration urged governors in July to ensure “roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork,” and Abbott was merely following suit.
But in general, a council once eager to fight the state’s Deathstar law, fund travel for residents’ out-of-state abortions and bar Chick-Fil-A from its airport has had to do some soul-searching about whether that’s still the right path.
Last November’s election put Republicans in control of every legislative and executive branch in both D.C. and Austin, as well as the high courts that would hear challenges to the policies they put forward.
Then President Donald Trump upped the ante, vowing to withhold resources and punish municipalities that step out of line.
“In this legal environment, we need to minimize the risk to our community,” Jones told city council earlier this year, while surprising some with her push to screen city policies for conflict with state and federal law.
By Thursday’s council meeting, some members now seemed to agree.
A council with many firsts — first lesbian mayor, first Sikh council member, first black gay man elected in Texas, and just recently, the state’s first transgender man to hold office — kicked off LGBTQ+ history month with mixed emotions.
They welcomed guests who helped pave the way before them, while expressing both sadness about the current political environment and resolve for working within its new limits.
“We’re going to have to figure out a way to continue to show … that every single member of our community is welcome and loved … regardless of what happens at the state and national level,” said Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1). “That’s going to be some tough decisions for us.”