Photo by Greg Rosenke via UnSplash
Florida cities are being forced to take action after the Florida Department of Transportation recently issued a June 30 memo warning that municipalities risk losing state funding if they maintain non‑uniform pavement art on public roads, guidance that specifically threatens Pride crosswalks and other murals.
While the directive was handed down from the governor’s office, FDOT and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cite the need for consistent traffic-control markings, warning that non-standard art may confuse motorists and hinder automated vehicle systems. In July, DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1662, which directs the Florida DOT to maintain a “uniform system for traffic control devices”—essentially barring decorative or ideological pavement markings.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a July 1 letter to all governors, urging removal of non-compliant pavement art and insisting “taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks.” On June 30, FDOT Assistant Secretary Will Watts issued an authoritative memo warning that municipalities with non‑standard pavement markings could lose access to state transportation funds. The memo cited both FDOT design rules and federal guidelines.
FDOT is surveying pavement murals statewide including cities like St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Tampa, Miami Beach, and Orlando have been asked to review or report all such installations. Orlando has a number of road-based murals in city limits, including in downtown Orlando, The Milk District, and just south of downtown near the former Pulse Nightclub site.
Cities like Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach have already started removing Pride-designated crosswalks to comply with the FDOT mandate, though Orlando has yet to make an announcement about what they’ll be doing with any of the sites in city limits.
