City in Iowa rejects federal request to remove rainbow crosswalks highlighting diversity

A city in central Iowa has refused a federal request to remove its rainbow-colored crosswalks at a downtown intersection meant to represent diversity and inclusiveness.

The Federal Highway Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, sent a letter dated Sept. 5 asking Ames City Manager Steve Schainker to get rid of the city’s rainbow crosswalks because they violated federal traffic control regulations, CNN reports.

Two crosswalks in Ames use the colors in the inclusive LGBT Pride flag, which adds brown and black to the 1970s rainbow design. A third crosswalk features purple, black, yellow and white — the gender nonbinary flag’s colors — while a fourth uses the colors of the transgender pride flag: blue, white and pink.

But crosswalks are only permitted to be painted in white, according to federal rules.

“Crosswalk art has a potential to compromise pedestrian and motorist safety by interfering with, detracting from, or obscuring official traffic control devices,” the agency wrote in its letter, according to CNN. “The art can also encourage road users, especially bicycles and pedestrians, to directly participate in the design, loiter in the street, or give reason to not vacate the street in an expedient or predictable manner.”{mosads}

The letter continued, “It also creates confusion for motorists, pedestrians, and other jurisdictions who may see these markings and install similar crosswalk treatments in their cities. Allowing a non-compliant pavement marking to remain in place presents a liability concern for the City of Ames in the event of a pedestrian/vehicle or vehicle/vehicle collision.”

In response, City Attorney Mark Lambert sent a memo to the Ames mayor and its city council saying the agency doesn’t have jurisdiction over the area where the crosswalks sit. As a result, he wrote, the state should get to decide what colors the crosswalks are and whether the federal rules had to be imposed on its streets, CNN reports.

“With the system of federalism in the United States, the federal government does not have jurisdiction over everything,” Lambert wrote.

Ultimately, the Ames City Council decided last Tuesday that they wouldn’t listen to the agency’s request. One council member, Chris Nelson, said at the meeting, “Do we need to do anything? Can we just accept the letter and say thank you?”