San Antonio has formally asked the Texas Department of Transportation to approve an exemption allowing the city to keep its rainbow-colored crosswalks at North Main Avenue and East Evergreen Street, arguing that the intersection has become safer since the markings were installed in 2018.
In a Nov. 5 letter, Assistant City Manager John Peterek referenced Gov. Greg Abbott’s Oct. 8 directive that ordered TxDOT to ensure cities and counties remove “any and all political ideologies from our streets.”
The order warns that noncompliance could result in the loss of state and federal transportation funding and bans “non-standard surface markings, signage and signals that do not directly support traffic control or safety,” including “symbols, flags or other markings conveying social, political or ideological messages.”
That directive identified the intersection, located within the city’s Pride Cultural Heritage District, as being out of compliance with the new rule.
The city argues the rainbow design is not prohibited under the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways — the federal safety standard Texas adopts and TxDOT enforces. That manual defines traffic control devices as signs, signals and markings that communicate safety or regulatory information.
Because the rainbow pattern does not guide or regulate traffic, city officials contend it falls outside of TxDOT’s enforcement authority, since the department’s authority over roadway markings is derived from Texas Transportation Code 544.002, which ties regulation to the state’s adoption of the federal manual.
The Office of the City Manager pointed to a letter from the U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to Gov. Greg Abbott, which it says “prompted” TxDOT’s action. Duffy encouraged states to “get back to the basics — using data to guide decision-making.”
In response, the city reviewed crash and injury reports from the three years before and three years after the rainbow crosswalk’s installation and found fewer pedestrian incidents following its addition. The analysis showed two pedestrian injuries before installation, one in the three years after, and one incident since — three total in seven years.
By comparison, a nearby intersection without the rainbow design — North Main Avenue and Cypress Street — saw four pedestrian injuries during the same period.
“The available safety data shows the intersection at N. Main Ave. and E. Evergreen St. is safer now than it was prior to the installation of the rainbow striping and is safer than another comparable nearby intersection without the rainbow striping,” Peterek wrote. “This should serve as demonstrated proof of the public safety benefit as requested in the TxDOT letter as criteria to receive written approval for an exception to allow continued use of the crosswalks. “
The letter also frames the installation as a community-driven project, noting that residents and nearby businesses raised funds for the colored striping and maintenance, “voluntarily removing the burden from city taxpayers.” Paint supplier PPG Industries, which provided materials, continues to highlight the installation on its website as promoting inclusion while improving pedestrian safety.
Peterek wrote that the city would appreciate guidance from TxDOT on “the statutory or regulatory authority” for the new directive and said it will await the agency’s decision on the exemption “prior to taking any action.”
The 30-day compliance window for cities to address Abbott’s order is expected to close on Friday, Nov. 7.
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