Safe Schools Statement on FDOT’s Order to Erase Painted Streets and Sidewalks

Safe Schools condemns the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) directive ordering cities to remove painted crosswalks, streets, and sidewalks—including LGBTQ+ Pride memorials—under threat of losing state funding. FDOT is enforcing a 2024 design bulletin and a June 30, 2025 memo that now prohibit any pavement or surface art on travel lanes, intersections, crosswalks, and sidewalks, and require local governments to make all markings “uniform and consistent.” FDOT Blob Storage+2FDOT Blob Storage+2, Florida Department of Transportation

FDOT and allied officials justify these removals as “safety” measures, claiming that non-standard markings distract drivers and that uniformity is “critical for the overall effectiveness of automated vehicle operation.” We see no Florida-specific crash evidence offered to support this sweeping claim, and we call on FDOT to release the data. Meanwhile, the State’s own communications and press coverage explicitly frame the policy as purging “political ideologies” from the roadway—revealing a political motive rather than a safety necessity. FOX 13 Tampa Bay, Jacksonville Today

The safety evidence runs the other way

Independent, peer-reviewed analysis of asphalt art at U.S. intersections found fewer crashes and conflicts after installations: a 50% drop in pedestrian-involved crashes, 37% fewer injury crashes, 17% fewer total crashes, plus better driver yielding and fewer illegal crossings. If safety is the standard, FDOT should be scaling up proven traffic-calming designs—not erasing them. BB Hub Assets, Axios

The “self-driving car” rationale is unproven and overbroad

FDOT points to automated/assisted driving systems as a reason to erase color and art. But even USDOT’s own automation policy emphasizes adapting standards based on evidence and roadway conditions—not preemptively banning local safety treatments. If FDOT believes ADAS/AV systems can’t handle painted crosswalks, it should publish studies showing a Florida safety problem and test technology to meet people’s needs—not force communities to erase visibility and culture. FOX 13 Tampa Bay, Department of Transportation

Equal enforcement means all painted streets must go—or none

If FDOT insists Pride memorials are “non-compliant,” every other painted street, sidewalk, or crosswalk must be treated identically. Anything less is discriminatory.

Examples currently targeted or already being removed in Florida include:

• Tampa: 47 street murals, including 21 school-area Crosswalks to Classrooms (book-spine crosswalks, etc.). These were once honored by FDOT for innovation; now FDOT demands removal by Sept. 4. Axios, City of Tampa, WTSP

• Orlando: FDOT’s list of 18 additional locations to strip, on top of the Pulse memorial crosswalk repainting. Spectrum News 13+1

• Seminole County: Dozens of green safety crosswalks repainted black/white after FDOT’s letter set a Sept. 4 deadline. WKMG, WFTV, FOX 35 Orlando

• Sarasota: The Avenue of Art sidewalk murals being removed under FDOT/US DOT asphalt-art bans. WGCU PBS & NPR for Southwest Florida, Your Observer

• Daytona Beach: FDOT ordered the checkered crosswalk at Daytona International Speedway painted over. FOX 35 Orlando

• Jacksonville: Rainbow crosswalks and an intersection mural flagged under FDOT’s memo defining “nonstandard” images—including anything associated with social, political, or ideological messages. Jacksonville Today

What FDOT’s own rules say

• Design ban: FDOT’s Roadway Design Bulletin 24-02 revised the Design Manual to prohibit pavement or surface art on the State Highway System. FDOT Blob Storage, Florida Department of Transportation

• Statewide compliance order: FDOT’s June 30, 2025, EOM25-01 memo instructs that all traffic control devices and surface markings on all public roads must comply with FDOT standards and the Florida Greenbook. FDOT Blob Storage

• Florida Greenbook: The 2023 edition’s official summary explicitly says: “Do not apply pavement or surface art on … crosswalks or sidewalks.” FDOT is now wielding this statewide. FDOT Blob Storage

Our position

1. Safety first, facts first. FDOT must publish Florida crash and yielding data showing that painted crosswalks increase risk—and explain why it is ignoring robust evidence that they reduce crashes and improve yielding. Cities should not be punished—or communities erased—without a transparent, evidence-based safety case. BB Hub Assets

2. Equal enforcement or equal protection violations. If Pride crosswalks must be removed, then so must every non-Pride painted street and sidewalk enumerated above. Anything less is unequal enforcement and unlawful viewpoint discrimination. Spectrum News 13, Axios

3. Stop the politicization. Erasing Pride symbols while praising “uniformity” ignores that many of these projects were safety-driven and community-built. Public statements about removing “political ideologies” from roads expose the true motive and invite legal scrutiny. Jacksonville Today

Safe Schools stands with students, families, educators, and our municipal partners across Florida. We will push back—with research, with creative, visible community safety projects, and with the full power of the law to ensure equal protection and evidence-based policy. You Will Not Erase Us. We are greater together—and we will overcome efforts by a few to control the many.

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