{"id":678069,"date":"2026-03-24T10:03:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T10:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/678069\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T10:03:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T10:03:25","slug":"residents-react-to-decorative-crosswalks-removal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/678069\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents react to decorative crosswalks removal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Residents and workers in the Oak Lawn neighborhood say the removal of rainbow crosswalks <\/a>has left them feeling surprised, unsafe and, for some, targeted.<\/p>\n

Dallas officials began stripping the crosswalk of its colors on Monday to comply with a state directive to remove \u201cpolitical ideologies\u201d from public roadways.<\/p>\n

City officials plan to remove 30 crosswalks by April 28, according to a joint memo<\/a> by Assistant City Managers Dev Rastogi and Liz Cedillo-Pereira. <\/p>\n

These include rainbow-painted markings in Oak Lawn, a historically LGBTQ community, and intersections with \u201cAll Black Lives Matter\u201d in South Dallas.<\/p>\n

Breaking News<\/p>\n

Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.<\/p>\n

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The dispute began in October when Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas cities to remove decorative crosswalks, specifically targeting rainbow designs \u2014 a mark of LGBTQ pride \u2014 calling them distracting, nontraffic messaging.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexans expect their taxpayer dollars to be used wisely, not advance political agendas on Texas roadways,\u201d Abbott said in an October statement.<\/p>\n

City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert asked for an exemption, arguing there was no evidence the artistic crosswalks compromised safety. The state denied the request in January and the city then had 90 days to comply.<\/a><\/p>\n

San Antonio removed its North Main Avenue rainbow crosswalks<\/a> in January, according to the city\u2019s local TV news station KSAT 12. Austin removed rainbow-colored crosswalks<\/a> in February in its Crestview neighborhood and on Manor Road, according to the city\u2019s local NPR station KUT Radio. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

The crosswalks in the Oak Lawn neighborhood, which had long been seen by many as symbols of LGBTQ pride and visibility, were removed early in the morning. <\/p>\n

Residents gathered to see how a truck carrying high-pressure water equipment stripped the crosswalk of its colors, one at a time. <\/p>\n

Nico Eshay, 34, who moved to the neighborhood about six months ago, said the removal caught many off guard. He said they knew it was coming, but not that it would occur Monday. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not only the Pride crosswalk they\u2019re removing,\u201d Eshay said. \u201cThey\u2019re removing one of the things people take pride in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eshay described the crosswalks as more than painted pavement, calling them a point of pride for the community.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A man holds a sign with a rainbow that says \u201cA promise of God, not a symbol of PRIDE\u201d as a road crew works to scrub rainbow colored crosswalk bars off intersections along Cedar Springs Road on Monday, March 23, 2026, in Dallas. The man, who said he lived in the Oak Lawn area, came out to \u201ccelebrate the small victories,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Angela Piazza \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Tony Vedda, president of the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce<\/a>, said he got a text from a colleague at about 8 a.m. that crews had already begun removing two crosswalks near Cedar Springs Road and Knight Street.<\/p>\n

Vedda expressed deep disappointment Monday at seeing the crosswalks removed, especially after his organization fundraised and paid for the 10 crosswalks to be installed in Oak Lawn in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was watching and it just felt like six years and a lot of money and effort just down the drain,\u201d Vedda told The Dallas Morning News. \u201cIt was harder to watch than I thought it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vedda said the original installation of the rainbow crosswalks cost $128,250, funded by community contributions through the chamber foundation. It cost about $45,000 to reinstall them last June after they began to fade.<\/p>\n

The North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce Foundation<\/a> in a statement said the removal of the rainbow crosswalks in Dallas is part of a wider trend in Texas, where public displays of support for the LGBTQ community are increasingly being targeted by political and regulatory actions.<\/p>\n

The foundation said it believes showing support for inclusion is not a political act, but a core community value that strengthens local identity and economic success. They said such expressions are appropriate and necessary in public spaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s colors on pavement,\u201d Vedda said. \u201cAnd while it\u2019s obviously symbolic for the community and symbolic that they\u2019re being erased, this community is incredibly resilient and we always find a way to come back and to make things better for ourselves and for the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justin Longoria, a 53-year-old cashier at Out of the Closet Thrift Store, said he witnessed crews removing the crosswalks as he arrived for work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis thing is a waste of time,\u201d Longoria said. \u201cI think it\u2019s attempting to demoralize. It\u2019s punching down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longoria said he believes the change sends a negative message to the broader community.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A cyclist rides past construction and a rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of Cedar Springs Road and Oak Lawn Avenue on Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Angela Piazza \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all negative, entirely negative,\u201d he said. \u201cBut people will persevere. It\u2019s just a setback.\u201d<\/p>\n

For others, the impact feels more personal. Skye Hunter, 26, who spends time in the neighborhood, said the removal is unsettling.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, it\u2019s kind of scary,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cTo know that people are that passionate about not having pride or not being proud of who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Dianne<\/p>\n

Hunter said the action raises broader concerns about safety and acceptance, particularly for transgender people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very scary being like that in public,\u201d she said. \u201cIt feels like we\u2019re regressing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the frustration and concern, some residents said they hope the moment will galvanize the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that it might be the key that we needed to start fighting back more,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

For now, community members say the removal has left both a physical and emotional gap, one that extends beyond the intersection itself.<\/p>\n

Staff writer Everton Bailey contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents and workers in the Oak Lawn neighborhood say the removal of rainbow crosswalks has left them feeling…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":678070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,14841,5026,20716,50,11210,80,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-678069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-america","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-city-hall","tag-greg-abbott","tag-lgbt","tag-news","tag-oak-lawn","tag-politics","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116283586110952979","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}