New Jersey does not appear to be complying with a Federal Highway Administration directive that includes the removal of rainbow crosswalks, with officials in at least two LGBTQ-friendly municipalities saying their rainbow crosswalks will remain and with one official vowing to lay himself “on the ground in front of any attempt to remove or paint over it.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced July 1 in a letter to all governors and in a news release “a nationwide roadway safety initiative” that calls for all roadways, intersections and crosswalks “to be kept free from distractions.” Duffy said in the release that these distractions include “political messages of any nature, artwork, or anything else that detracts from the core mission of driver and pedestrian safety.”
“Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork. Today I am calling on governors in every state to ensure that roadways, intersections, and crosswalks are kept free of distractions,” Duffy said.
Gov. Phil Murphy’s office referred questions about how the state will respond to the federal directive to the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
NJDOT spokesman Steve Schapiro said the agency follows the rules in the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or MUTCD, regarding road signals that include signs and pavement markings.
Schapiro noted that according to those MUTCD rules, which predate the current presidential administration, roads maintained by the NJDOT as well as those maintained by other entities such as municipal and county governments should not have colored markings such as rainbow colors supporting the LGBTQ community or a blue line painted between the yellow lines in the middle of a roadway in support of police, for example, in the first place.
“The section of the letter (to governors from Duffy) which references ‘consistent and recognizable traffic control devices including crosswalk and intersection markings, and orderly use of the right-of-way that is kept free from distractions’ is simply stating in general terms what has been federal policy for four decades,” Schapiro said.
Despite the MUTCD rules, however, there are communities throughout the state that apparently do not adhere to them and allow roadway markings such as rainbow crosswalks in support of LGBTQ rights and a painted blue line in support of police.
The LGBTQ-friendly municipalities of Asbury Park in Monmouth County and Maplewood Township in Essex County each have one rainbow crosswalk. Officials there who were interviewed by Out in Jersey say they have not been given any direct order to remove their crosswalk and have no intention of doing so on their own.
“Maplewood is a welcoming and inclusive place to live, do business, and raise a family — and the crosswalks represent our solidarity with the LGBTQ community,” Mayor Nancy Adams said.
Maplewood Township Committee Member Dean Dafis, who also served as the township’s first LGBTQ mayor, also was in no way accepting of Duffy’s directive.
“As Maplewood’s first out and proud member of the town council, I will personally lay myself on the ground in front of any attempt to remove or paint over it, and I’m sure I will be joined by hundreds of our fellow residents who recognize rainbow crosswalks as beacons of community inclusivity and LGBTQ affirmation,” Dafis said.
The rainbow crosswalk in Maplewood is located at Oakview Road and Valley Street. The crosswalk is entirely on Valley Street, which is maintained by Essex County. Reached for comment, county public information officer Anthony Puglisi said the county has not received any directives about roadway markings.
In Asbury Park, the sentiment was much the same as it was in Maplewood. City Manager Adam Cruz said removing their rainbow crosswalk is “something that hasn’t even crossed our minds.”
“Absolutely not,” Cruz said. “We are fully supportive of our diversity. We embrace it. The gay community is who brought Asbury Park back to its feet.”
The city’s rainbow crosswalk is located on Asbury Avenue outside the popular LGBTQ club Paradise. The avenue is maintained by the city.
Not all states are taking New Jersey’s apparent stance to keep things how they are, however. Perhaps most notably is Florida. That state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, ordered the Florida Department of Transportation to comply with the federal directive. Municipalities there were given deadlines to paint over or remove rainbow crosswalks, according to The Associated Press.
In Orlando, work crews in the middle of the night painted over the rainbow crosswalk outside the Pulse Nightclub, where 49 people were murdered in a 2016 mass shooting, the AP reported. The crosswalk served as a memorial to the victims.
Attempts by some to repaint the crosswalk or use chalk to color the rainbow back in were met with arrests.
DeSantis’s order did not sit well with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “I am outraged by the State of Florida’s decision to forcefully remove Pride crosswalks — symbols of love, support, and unity in our communities,” she told the AP.
“These vibrant installations are more than paint on pavement. They reflect the values we hold dear in Miami-Dade: respect, appreciation of fellow neighbors, and the fundamental right to live and love openly,” she said in a statement.
Back in Asbury Park, Cruz said DeSantis is all about political antics to garner more votes. “It’s just tragic that Florida chose to go that route,” Cruz said.
On an early fall afternoon, Myriam Flores of Sayreville stood across the street from Paradise near Asbury’s rainbow crosswalk and related that she hopes New Jersey will not do what states such as Florida are doing.
“I hope not, especially in New Jersey, which is a very diverse place, and the LGBTQ community is part of that diversity,” Flores said.
City resident Dee Rogers, who was also strolling by Paradise that afternoon, agreed. “I hope they don’t because everybody in Asbury Park is free to express themselves,” Rogers said.
