City to remove painted Jacksonville crosswalks to comply with new guidelines, but says it ‘will be costly’ to taxpayers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The City of Jacksonville said it plans to comply with the state’s updated requirement to remove colorful pavement art from streets.

The city’s plans come after the Florida Department of Transportation required that cities remove “non-standard surface markings,” which the department said might distract drivers.

The requirement from FDOT came after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked state governors to participate in the “SAFE ROADS” initiative, which stands for “Safe Arterials for Everyone through Reliable Operations and Distraction-Reducing Strategies.”

The city described the change as a “perplexing reversal,” citing a Bloomberg study that revealed a 50% reduction in crashes due to painted streets. However, it stated that it would follow suit with the updated requirements, even though the change would take a toll on taxpayers.

“While the perplexing reversal will be costly to our taxpayers, we will be complying with the state’s request to remove these paintings and working with local artists to recreate them on a different canvas that is on private property and not on a roadway,” a statement from the city read.

The Florida Department of Transportation found six noncompliant locations in Jacksonville:

The intersection of West of Lomax Street and Oak Street (one crosswalk)
The intersection of Lomax Street between Park Street and Oak Street (one crosswalk)
The intersection of Lomax Street and Margaret Street (one crosswalk)
The intersection of Childrens Way and San Marco Boulevard (all pavement art and crosswalk)
The intersection of 9th Street W and Pearl Street N (all crosswalks)
The intersection of Milnor Street near Richard L Brown Elementary School (one crosswalk)

According to the city, the art at the intersection of Childrens Way and San Marco Boulevard cost more than $85,000 to paint.

There is no estimate for the cost of repainting the crosswalks, but the city said it has moved forward to hire contractors to remove the paintings.

Read the city’s full statement below:

A 2022 Bloomberg study found that decorated crosswalks actually made streets safer, showing a 50% drop in pedestrian crashes and big decreases in accidents overall. In fact, these traffic calming measures were once encouraged by the State of Florida.

While the perplexing reversal will be costly to our taxpayers, we will be complying with the state’s request to remove these paintings and working with local artists to recreate them on a different canvas that is on private property and not on a roadway. In Jacksonville, we welcome everyone and believe that public art beautifies the city while driving economic development.”

Public Works will hire contractors to remove the road paintings. We do not know the costs or have a schedule yet.

City of Jacksonville

If the city fails to comply, FDOT said it would withhold state funds.

All locations must be removed by Thursday, Sept. 4.

City to remove painted Jacksonville crosswalks to comply with new guidelines, but says it ‘will be costly’ to taxpayers

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