{"id":90101,"date":"2025-12-16T16:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/90101\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T16:26:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:26:08","slug":"txdot-denies-san-antonio-request-to-keep-rainbow-crosswalk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/90101\/","title":{"rendered":"TxDOT denies San Antonio request to keep rainbow crosswalk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas Department of Transportation officials have denied San Antonio\u2019s request for an exemption<\/a> to keep the rainbow-colored crosswalk at North Main Avenue and East Evergreen Street, requesting the city comply with the state\u2019s directive to remove the markings or risk losing state or federal transportation funding.<\/p>\n

In a Nov. 25 letter<\/a>, TxDOT Traffic Safety Division Director George Villarreal said the department \u201cdoes not consider this exception request acceptable,\u201d rejecting the city\u2019s Nov. 5 request to keep the crosswalk in place. The letter states that any exemption request must include a signed and sealed certification from a traffic engineer affirming the markings comply with the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.<\/p>\n

Without that documentation, Villarreal wrote, the city was required to submit a plan to remove the noncompliant markings by Dec. 10, warning that \u201cfailure to comply with this directive may result in the withholding or denial of state or federal funds and\/or the suspension of agreements between TxDOT and the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Dec. 10, Assistant City Manager John Peterek responded with a plan<\/a> outlining the removal of the crosswalk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City continues to believe that the crosswalks in question are safer than before the installation of the rainbow-colored paint, that the intersection is safer than comparable nearby intersections, and that it demonstrated the importance of the crosswalks to the Pride Cultural Heritage District,\u201d Peterek wrote. \u201cNevertheless, the City will respect TxDOT\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterek wrote the city will complete removal and replacement operations on or before Jan. 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

While the crosswalk, which is within the street itself, will be removed to comply with state requirements, city officials said San Antonio plans to install rainbow-colored sidewalk treatments off the road one block north and one block south of the intersection to continue recognizing and supporting the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n

How we got here<\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Abbott issued a directive<\/a> on Oct. 8 ordering the Texas Department of Transportation to ensure cities and counties remove \u201cpolitical ideologies\u201d from roadways, warning that noncompliant markings could jeopardize state and federal transportation funding.<\/p>\n

The directive cited \u201cnon-standard surface markings, signage and signals\u201d that do not directly support traffic control or safety, including symbols or messages conveying social or political viewpoints.<\/p>\n

Following the order, TxDOT identified San Antonio\u2019s rainbow-colored crosswalk at North Main Avenue and East Evergreen Street \u2014 located within the city\u2019s Pride Cultural Heritage District \u2014 as out of compliance.<\/p>\n

City officials formally requested an exemption<\/a> on Nov. 5, arguing the rainbow striping did not function as a traffic control device under the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices<\/a> and citing crash data that showed fewer pedestrian injuries at the intersection after the crosswalk was installed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas Department of Transportation officials have denied San Antonio\u2019s request for an exemption to keep the rainbow-colored crosswalk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[42514,16900,42515,392,24466,1183,4873,3928,82,84,83,9237,42516,92,271,3028,3219],"class_list":{"0":"post-90101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-assistant-city-manager","9":"tag-city-manager","10":"tag-george-villarreal","11":"tag-greg-abbott","12":"tag-john-peterek","13":"tag-lgbtq","14":"tag-pride-cultural-heritage-district","15":"tag-rainbow-crosswalks","16":"tag-san-antonio","17":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","18":"tag-san-antonio-news","19":"tag-texas-department-of-transportation","20":"tag-texas-manual-on-uniform-traffic-control-devices","21":"tag-top-story","22":"tag-txdot","23":"tag-typedaily","24":"tag-wc-less-than-500"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90101","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=90101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}