‘Inclusive’ rainbow crosswalks should be removed from Iowa city, feds say

It was only three weeks ago that the city of Ames, Iowa, unveiled a special project: crosswalks painted with colorful pride rainbows celebrating minority and non-binary people, Iowa State Daily reported.

“Who would have thought 50 years ago that a small town in central Iowa would be saying this: ‘We see you, we hear you, we welcome you, but most importantly from this moment forward we will also include you,’” Reg Stewart, Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, said, according the news outlet.

But now, the city has been asked to remove the specially designed crosswalks.

Ames’ city manager received a letter from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Division stating that the crosswalks, located at Fifth Street and Douglas Avenue, do not comply with federal code, KCCI reported.

The administration cited the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices which they say prohibits anything but white paint in crosswalks, adding that the administration’s “official interpretation” also proscribes art in crosswalks, the news outlet reported.

The city has been asked to remove the crosswalks, though the city’s attorney says that for now, the request is only that: a request, the Ames Tribune reported.

“I note that the FHWA’s letter included a ‘request’ — not a demand — for the city to remove the colored crosswalk markings. This is not a lawful order or demand by a federal agency. It is merely a request,” city attorney Mark Lambert said, according to The Telegraph.

City officials say they don’t believe the administration has jurisdiction over the roads, adding that they are not part of the federal highway system and do not receive any federal funding, the news outlet reported.

In light of this, the city is weighing the risks of not complying with the administration’s request, according to the Tribune.

“Liability comes down to a negligence standard that would be determined by a judge. And this isn’t an intersection where cars are colliding with each other at 100 mph,” Lambert told the Tribune. “It is hard to imagine that a non-standard crosswalk would constitute more liability for the city than a crosswalk the city hadn’t marked at all.”

This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 8:28 AM.