JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Action News Jax has learned Jacksonville\u2019s rainbow crosswalks and other \u201cpavement art\u201d will soon be removed from city streets \u2014 and taxpayers will have to cover the cost.<\/p>\n
The Florida Department of Transportation sent a letter to the city, requiring it to remove road art at six different intersections by next Thursday or lose state funding.<\/p>\n
The city said it will comply with the state\u2019s request and expects it to be costly.<\/p>\n
Action News Jax asked the city exactly how much it will cost, but a spokesperson said they do not know yet.<\/p>\n
Public works will hire contractors to remove the road paintings at these locations:<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t see a good reason why you would want to remove that,\u201d said D\u2019andre Wilcox, who lives in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
This all comes following a memo from FDOT calling for the removal of pavement surface art that doesn\u2019t directly relate to road safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think it\u2019s another attack on the LGBT community,\u201d said Wilcox.<\/p>\n
Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith said communities are going to continue to rally against this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are sending a message to the state that we will not be erased,\u201d said Guillermo-Smith. \u201cThey are creating even larger murals that are going to be bigger, more colorful and gayer than ever to send the message that love always wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
The art must be gone by September 4th.<\/p>\n
[DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n The city sent Action News Jax this statement:<\/p>\n \u201cA 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the perplexing reversal will be costly to our taxpayers, we will be complying with the state\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n