Hundreds of Key West residents took to the streets on July 26 to show their support for the city’s rainbow crosswalk, which is being targeted by a new state transportation law banning “non-compliant” pavement markings.
Mayor Dee Dee Henriquez and Commissioners Sam Kaufman, Donie Lee and Monica Haskell joined the “Rainbow Rally” event and are seeking ways to protect the pride-striped crosswalk that has marked the intersection of Duval and Petronia streets since 2015. The city commission will discuss the topic at its Aug. 6 meeting.
The new state law, citing a need for “uniform signals and traffic devices” to ensure driver and pedestrian safety, went into effect June 30 and requires all signs and pavement markings to comply with the Florida Department of Transportation Design Manual.
“Examples of non-compliant surface pavement would include any pavement markings … associated with social, political or ideological messages or images and does not serve the purpose of traffic control,” states a June 30 memo from the FDOT.
While state officials claim safety concerns are the basis for the directive, others say it targets the LGBT community, restricts home rule and cities’ rights to govern themselves and improperly threatens to withhold state funding from any city that refuses to comply.
“This new law appears to use public safety as a way to target LGBTQ pride and I certainly don’t agree with that,” commissioner Donie Lee said on July 18.
“Failure to remove non-compliant … pavement markings shall be cause for withholding of state funds,” the memo states. “Permission to allow non-compliant traffic control devices or pavement markings to remain may be granted at the department’s discretion, if the public agency is able to demonstrate good cause for doing so.”
Mayor Henriquez points to the “permission” part of the memo as the potential savior for Key West’s crosswalk. She told the Keys Weekly on July 29 that she has met with the city attorney and other staff to gather evidence and information to present to the state if the crosswalk is targeted for removal. Henriquez has also asked city staff to calculate how much state transportation funding could be at risk, and whether the city could afford to forfeit those funds and cover the loss with another source of funding.
“We’re compiling all the information we can, including the number of traffic accidents or incidents that have occurred at that intersection, compared to other intersections in town, and we’ll make the state aware of the intersection’s tourism marketing value as a photo spot,” Henriquez said.
At the Aug. 6 commission meeting, commissioner Sam Kaufman will introduce a resolution to protect the crosswalk.
“Whereas Key West has long been a proud destination for LGBTQ+ travelers, with an internationally recognized reputation for inclusion, celebration and community … generating millions in tourism revenue annually … and whereas, the removal of these crosswalks would send a damaging and misleading message to residents, visitors and businesses … and whereas the city commission affirms that local communities such as Key West must retain the right to express their identity, values and culture through reasonable and safe public design decisions, consistent with the principles of home rule and local self-governance under the Florida Constitution … the city commission seeks to explore all legal and administrative avenues to preserve the rainbow crosswalks.
“The city commission affirms its unwavering support for the continued presence of the rainbow crosswalks and directs staff to explore all reasonable options, legal or otherwise, for preserving them in their current location and form,” Kaufman’s resolution states.
