{"id":364598,"date":"2026-07-07T23:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/364598\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T23:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:13:08","slug":"austins-rainbow-crosswalks-set-for-removal-by-months-end-sparking-cost-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/364598\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin’s rainbow crosswalks set for removal by month’s end, sparking cost concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The rainbow crosswalks of Fourth and Colorado streets will lose their color by the end of the month.<\/p>\n

The city already covered multiple murals<\/a> Thursday in compliance with Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s directive to the Texas Department of Transportation. One Austin resident said they feel the change is unnecessary, and a misuse of the city\u2019s already tight budget.<\/p>\n

“We could be spending the money that we spend on removing this crosswalk on a million other things,” said Hya Zakite, an Austin drag performer and activist.<\/p>\n

Austin District 9 Council Member Zo Qadri called the removals \u201cpolitical theatrics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many issues in the state around infrastructure, around the grid, which has been well documented around public health,\u201d Qadri said. \u201cAnd he chooses his fights around these murals, these crosswalks. It says a lot about where he spends his time.\u201d<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | City of Austin covers iconic murals, sparking backlash over cultural loss<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mural<\/p>\n

Mural at Fourth and Colorado Streets. (Photo: Jennifer Wang)<\/p>\n

The removal process may be more expensive than some expect. Zakite witnessed the removal of San Antonio\u2019s rainbow crosswalks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like they can just paint over it, because the paint will come back. It\u2019s not like they can just scrape it off, because it is part of the asphalt,\u201d Zakite said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to have to remove large sections of the road and repave them on Fourth Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the exact cost is not yet known, Council Member Qadri said it would hit the city and its already tight budget.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve well documented the financial strain the city has, and now we have all this added expense because of the governor,\u201d Qadri said.<\/p>\n

Austin Transportation and Public Works said it will not be able to provide an accurate cost figure until all work is completed. CBS Austin will follow up with city officials as the project progresses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The rainbow crosswalks of Fourth and Colorado streets will lose their color by the end…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-364598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}