Leon County will join the City of Tallahassee in the removal of colorful crosswalks following a mandate from the state.
In a communication with FDOT, the county administrator says the county will comply with a September 4 deadline to have non-standard crosswalks removed. According to FDOT, the non-standard designs can confuse drivers. Local government leaders have been warned they could lose state funding if they do not comply. Watch the video below to hear from neighbors about the impacts of these colorful pathways. “It was a like a landmark to us”: Neighbors disappointed over crosswalk removals
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Leon County leaders will comply with an FDOT order to remove noncompliant crosswalk art.
Colorful crosswalks are disappearing across the city.
In Leon County, theyre still in place for now, but that will soon change.
Monday I received a copy of an email sent from the county administrator Vince Long on August 22 to Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Tim Smith. It was in response to the county being notified that it was not in compliance with the removal mandate. The email referenced a phone call between the two groups earlier that day.
In his email Long writes: I greatly appreciate and accept your offer to redouble our efforts in the locations of these crosswalks and to work together to install the most effective FDOT-approved safety measures in those locations, and others, going forward.
Three of those county crosswalks are on Dempsey Mayo Road near a school and a retirement community.
Senior neighbors near Dempsey Mayo Road say those crosswalks did more than add color.
“This was not a political statement. This was a simple response to a problem for our residence and we knew based on the research we had done that if it were very visible that the traffic would slow down and thats what we found out happened, Marjorie Turnbull said.
Some neighbors vowed to protest when crews show up to remove the designs.
You tear them out and we’re coming out with our wheelchairs, our walkers and our canes, the whole bit,” one neighbor said.
They say elderly walkers and students benefit from the extra visibility.
So far ten colorful crosswalks that once brightened neighborhoods have been removed, including several near Leon County schools. FDOT says the designs didnt meet federal and state safety standards.
According to FDOT, non-standard designs can confuse drivers, and they warn local governments could lose state funding if they dont comply.
Mica Rose lives one minute away from one of the recently repainted crosswalks. She walks her kids to and from school every day and says they were disappointed to see that colorful crosswalk gone.
On the first day of school, we walked to school and we saw it and we were excited. We were like oh this is so pretty. It was like a landmark for us to know this is when we get close to school. And this morning, when we came, we noticed it was gone. Me, and all three of my kids were disappointed, even my three-year-old because she loves seeing it, Rose said.
In his email Long also stated the county would be in compliance by the September 4 deadline.
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