ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – On Monday, officials with the city of St. Petersburg said they would be strategic and not reactionary regarding the Florida Department of Transportation to deny the city’s request to keep several pieces of artwork on its roadways, and they encouraged residents to do the same.
The backstory:
Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1662 into law in June. FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue described the bill as an effort to keep transportation facilities free and clear of political ideologies.
FDOT is ordering cities and counties to identify and potentially remove artwork on roadways that may violate state traffic control guidelines. State officials have said “non-standard surface markings” can cause distractions or misunderstandings on the road and jeopardize driver and pedestrian safety.
The city wrote a letter to the FDOT last Wednesday, asking to keep five street murals from being removed.
In the letter, the city asked the FDOT to allow it to keep street murals at five locations – Central Avenue and 5th Street, Central Avenue and 25th Street, 6th Avenue South and 2nd Street South, 9th Avenue South and 22nd Lane South, and 11th Avenue South and 46th Street South.
These include a Pride rainbow mural, a USF-themed mural and a Black History Matters mural outside the Woodson African American History Museum. The city also asked the FDOT to keep artistic murals at Central Avenue and 5th Street South and 11th Avenue and 46th Street South.
In the city of St. Pete’s letter to the FDOT this week, it said crash data showed that certain street murals on its roadways aren’t a safety risk.
City officials did a three-year before-and-after crash analysis on the intersection on Central Avenue where the first mural was installed.
Last Friday afternoon, the FDOT denied the city’s request.
What they’re saying:
During Monday’s press conference, Welch called the ban on the city’s street murals a politically inspired state preemption.
“These murals are more than paint on pavement. They are expressions of our community identity and values,” Welch said.
When FDOT told the city that the street murals had to be removed, Welch said the city pushed back, but FDOT threatened penalties that would have cost the city millions of dollars in state funding.
“As the mayor of our city, I will not risk these essential investments in a fight I don’t believe we can win. That would be irresponsible leadership and detrimental to our city in the long run. But make no mistake, this is not the end of the story. Our response will be strategic, not reactionary.”
“We will build back stronger, and we will create even more powerful expressions of who we are,” Welch explained. “Expressions that cannot be erased. The state can remove the paint from our streets. They can remove those symbols, but they cannot bind the spirit of the city of St. Petersburg or silence our voice. Our murals will live on city and privately-owned properties, on flags and banners and other installations. Whatever is taken away will be replaced in new, more impactful ways.”
“To legislatively mandate the culture and values of cities like ours to align with those of Tallahassee and Washington politicians,” Welch said.
Welch says they explored every option they had in terms of pushing back on this order.
“We submitted the requested inventories,” he said. “We requested exemptions. We consulted with our attorneys and spoke with our stakeholders.”
Welch reiterated data referenced in the city’s letter to the FDOT requesting the exemption.
“The Common Ground Mural at 5th Street and Central, our first intersection mural, which reduced traffic crashes by 70%,” he said.
Other St. Pete leaders joined the Mayor on Monday morning, sharing their disappointment about FDOT’s response.
“We want to be a part of this conversation and lead with facts and not feelings,” Dr. Byron Green-Calisch, the President of St. Pete Pride said. “But both exist in this moment, that our community does have very strong feelings about saving this art.”
In the response letter from the FDOT, state officials said that if the city reverses course and doesn’t comply with the order, they will pursue withholding state funds.
What you can do:
The mayor asked residents to go to the mural sites over the next few days and take photos and share them with friends and family using #WeAreStPete #OurStreetsOurVoices and #CantEraseStPete.
He also stressed that residents need to obey the law and be smart about how they handle things.
What’s next:
Welch says city personnel won’t remove the street murals. He says the FDOT will remove the murals and the city will be required to reimburse the state for the cost.
The Mayor and city leaders say they’ve already begun discussing alternative ways to express the city’s culture and values.
“We need to be strategic and not reactionary,” St. Pete City Councilman Copley Gerdes said.
Leaders say all possibilities are on the table at this point.
The FDOT says all street art in violation of traffic guidelines must be removed by September 4.
It is unclear when the murals will be removed.
St. Pete City Council was expected to discuss how to handle street art at a meeting in September. It’s not clear whether that discussion will still happen.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by the city of St. Petersburg and previous FOX 13 News reports.