Whitney Kral walks her dogs across Morrow Street on a rainbow crosswalk in the Crestview neighborhood of Austin on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. The crosswalk was repainted over the weekend by a group of neighbors using what one resident described as chalk-based, nonpermanent paint after the city removed several decorated crosswalks last week citing pressure from the federal government. Some neighbors also added rainbow paint to their driveways and walkways, and an area church displayed a sign supporting the crosswalks.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Residents in North Austin’s Crestview neighborhood are pushing back after a symbol they say represents inclusion was erased without warning last week.
On Feb. 18, the city of Austin painted over a rainbow crosswalk in the neighborhood, citing a federal directive to remove nonstandard road markings. By the next morning, the community group chat began to light up before the sun even rose as neighbors began orchestrating a protest.
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A Pride flag is displayed next to a rainbow crosswalk on Morrow Street in the Crestview neighborhood of Austin on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. The crosswalk was repainted over the weekend by a group of neighbors using what one resident described as chalk-based, nonpermanent paint after the city removed several decorated crosswalks last week citing pressure from the federal government. Some neighbors also added rainbow paint to their driveways and walkways, and an area church displayed a sign supporting the crosswalks.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
“They started texting at like 6:30 in the morning: ‘Hey, did you notice? Hey, did you notice?’” said Whitney Kral, who lives nearby.
The rainbow crosswalk at Morrow and Watson streets, which seemingly sprung up overnight in 2024, disappeared just as quickly and without warning.
Kral had walked her dogs past the intersection just the night before. But, when she went by again the next day, “sure enough, it was painted over.”
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“What? I just walked it. How is that possible?” she wondered.
The city made public in a memo Thursday its decision to restore the road markings to standard black-and-white stripes, citing a federal directive to remove the colorful paint as pressure mounts over “political” road markings.
A house displays a rainbow-painted walkway beside a rainbow crosswalk on Morrow Street in the Crestview neighborhood of Austin on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. The crosswalk was repainted over the weekend by a group of neighbors using what one resident described as chalk-based, nonpermanent paint after the city removed several decorated crosswalks last week citing pressure from the federal government. Some neighbors also added rainbow paint to their driveways and walkways, and an area church displayed a sign supporting the crosswalks.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
The Crestview crosswalk was one of three “aesthetically treated” intersections the city removed. Another at Manor Road and Leona Street in East Austin featured a rainbow pattern, and a third at Pedernales Street and Webberville Road in East Austin was painted to resemble bricks.
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The move comes amid pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Department of Transportation to eliminate what state leaders have called “political ideologies” from public roadways. In October, Abbott directed cities to remove such markings or risk losing state funding, and TxDOT gave cities and counties until early November to comply.
Austin transportation director Richard Mendoza wrote in the memo that the Federal Highway Administration “provided notification of the termination of the experiment, which included direction to restore the sites to their previous conditions.”
Austin is still waiting to hear from TxDOT whether it can keep 12 other pieces of street art, including rainbow crosswalks that remain downtown.
The move didn’t sit well with neighbors, and by Sunday evening, the intersection and surrounding driveways were even more colorful than before.
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The crosswalk’s removal sparked indignation in Celeste Padilla, who lives nearby. She convinced several nearby homeowners to allow her to paint rainbow stripes on their driveways, and she recruited a group of neighbors to help. Another group used washable, chalk-based paint to restripe the crosswalk in its original colors.
The pastor of nearby Violet Crown City Church even painted the giant Adirondack chair that sits out front and often displays justice-focused messages; it now reads, “Crestview (hearts) crosswalks.”
Padilla wasn’t initially sure if she wanted to do anything about the crosswalk, and she certainly didn’t plan to lead the charge — “I just happened to have all the paint,” she said. “But my faith is what calls me to work for justice for any group that is erased, or oppressed, or not treated the way they need to be treated.
“A rainbow crosswalk in Crestview signifies that we are a welcoming community, that it doesn’t matter how you vote, if you’re Black or white, if you’re gay or straight, or who you pray to. It just is about being kind and being welcoming,” said Padilla, a Unitarian Universalist.
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An oversized rainbow-painted chair with a sign reading “Crestview Loves Crosswalks” sits in the yard of Violet Crown City Church near a rainbow crosswalk on Morrow Street in the Crestview neighborhood of Austin on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. The crosswalk was repainted over the weekend by a group of neighbors using what one resident described as chalk-based, nonpermanent paint after the city removed several decorated crosswalks last week citing pressure from the federal government. Some neighbors also added rainbow paint to their driveways and walkways.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
State and federal officials have cited driver and pedestrian safety as the chief reason for removing nonstandard crosswalks. Crestview residents aren’t buying it.
“It doesn’t seem like there was any substantial or concrete data to support that,” said Karla Manzur Vanderbrook, who recently added rainbow stripes to her driveway adjacent to the crosswalk. “It’s obvious that there’s more than safety to it. The reasoning behind it is definitely against political and activist messaging.”
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But if the situation has a silver lining for Crestview residents, it’s seeing the neighborhood form a “united front.”
“It’s not a huge thing that we did, but it feels good to do something,” Padilla said. “I think we all left kind of feeling hopeful. With the way things are right now in the state and in the country, you’ve got to hang on to any little glimmer of hope.”