Artist Ansley Randall’s mural on San Marco Boulevard, done by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, is one of six street art projects the city will remove under FDOT mandates. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on August 28, 2025 at 4:19 pm
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Jacksonville plans to remove six painted crosswalks and street paintings to comply with a state mandate that has create consternation across the state.
The Florida Department of Transportation in June ordered cities to remove messages or images on crosswalks and pavement — including rainbow-colored crosswalks — to make “roads safer and easier to navigate.” The deadline is Sept. 4, and the state could withhold funding from cities that don’t comply.
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Some cities have refused the state’s order, but Jacksonville officials said Thursday that they will remove paintings in Five Points, San Marco and Springfield.
City spokesman Phil Perry said the FDOT mandate is perplexing, since some studies have shown decorated crosswalks to be safer. He cited a study from Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2022 that found that decorated crosswalks showed a 50% drop in pedestrian crashes and big decreases in accidents overall.
In a statement to Jacksonville Today, Perry reminded people that, despite complying with the FDOT order, the city welcomes everyone and “public art beautifies the city while driving economic development.”
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He said the city would work with local artists to re-create the artwork “on a different canvas that is on private property and not on a roadway.”
The FDOT memo June 30 said messages or images on pavement can be distracting. But critics across the state have interpreted the mandate as an attack on the LGBTQ community.
State officials created an uproar when, in the middle of the night, they painted over a rainbow crosswalk in Orlando near the Pulse nightclub, a gay-friendly bar where 49 people died in a mass shooting in 2016.
Many cities, including Fort Lauderdale, Delray Beach and Key West, have resisted removing rainbow crosswalks. Tampa, like Jacksonville, plans to remove offending artwork, but it includes a “Back the Blue” mural on the street outside police headquarters.
FDOT District 2 Secretary Greg Evans wrote to Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan on Aug. 21 saying the department appreciates that Jacksonville will “work expeditiously” to remove the pavement markings.
He gave the city until Sept. 4 and said the Department of Transportation would remove the artwork itself unless Deegan confirms the city’s plans.
FDOT’s initial memo came after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to every governor asking that their states participate in a program to reduce distractions on the road.
FDOT Communications Director Michael Williams then said his department was responding to Senate Bill 1662, which he said directed the department to “ensure compliance with FDOT’s uniform system for traffic control devices.”
Initially, it was unclear what kind of street art had to be removed.
For example, what about the 300-plus yellow paws painted along Bay Street Downtown? the JAX Chamber sponsors an annual “Painting of the PawPrints” volunteer event to show the way to the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. This year’s paw painting was put on hold due to the FDOT ruling.
“We are exploring alternatives that show our support and excitement for the team as well as capture the spirit and energy of the unofficial start of the Jaguars season downtown,” the chamber said in a statement.
The chamber has not resonded to repeated requests from Jacksonville Today about what those alternatives might be.
FDOT’s letter to Deegan on Aug. 21 does not include the paws among an “initial list” of other painted sites that must be modified:
- West Lomax Street and Oak Street (one crosswalk).
- Lomax Street between Park Street and Oak Street (one crosswalk).
- Lomax Street and Margaret Street (one crosswalk).
- Childrens Way and San Marco Boulevard (all pavement art and crosswalk).
- 9th Street West and Pearl Street North (all crosswalks).
- Milnor Street near Richard L Brown Elementary School (one crosswalk).
Perry said the city will hire contractors to remove the road paintings at an estimated cost of $21,796, not including the security to close off the intersection as work is done.
The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville helped create Randall’s mural a few years ago as part of a continuing public art project. It cost $82,103, according to documents provided by the city.
The nonprofit agency stated in June that it would remove the artwork. Public Art Program Director Kat Wright said Thursday that the agency is “working with the City of Jacksonville to meet all requirements.”
Springfield Preservation and Revitalization paid for the artwork in that community. Riverside Avondale Preservation funded the Lomax Street rainbow crosswalks.
RAP officials told Jacksonville Today they are working on some ideas and will discuss them soon.
The Jax LGBT Chamber‘s member businesses also are working on alternatives, said president David Vandygriff. The organization’s Facebook page is seeking painters and artists as it plans to counter removal of the rainbow crosswalks, he said.
“We are trying to come up with a more inventive way to circumvent what they are trying to do, which is trying to erase the LBGTQ community,” Vandygriff said.
When the Lomax Street rainbow crossings are removed, Vandygriff said, there will be a “visible, non-violent protest” during the work.
