Transportation Sec Sean Duffy demands every state remove rainbow crosswalks

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to every state governor on Tuesday demanding they remove distractions from the road, especially including obnoxious rainbow crosswalks.

“Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork,” Duffy said in a statement to The Daily Signal. “Today, I am calling on governors in every state to ensure that roadways, intersections, and crosswalks are kept free of distractions.”

“Far too many Americans die each year due to traffic fatalities to take our eye off the ball,” he added.

Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks.

Political banners have no place on public roads. I’m reminding recipients of @USDOT roadway funding that it’s limited to features advancing safety, and nothing else. It’s that simple. https://t.co/hA5FBsVFXO

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) July 1, 2025

This move is part of the Federal Highway Administration’s new Safe Arterials for Everyone through Reliable Operations and Distraction-Reducing Strategies (SAFE ROADS) initiative that was launched Tuesday.

“The SAFE ROADS national initiative will focus on the non-freeway arterials within your State, including safety and operation at intersections and along segments, 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,” Duffy’s letter to the governors reads.

“These routes are where more than half of roadway fatalities in America occur and deserve enhanced attention. The goal of the SAFE ROADS national initiative is to partner with State and local governments to make the entire roadway right‑of‑way easier to interpret and navigate for all users, including pedestrians, vehicle operators, and automated vehicles alike,” it continues.

In the letter, Duffy requests that within 60 days, each state’s Department of Transportation “develop a list of arterial segments, including intersections, with the highest safety, operational, or compliance concerns that will be addressed by the end of Fiscal Year 2026.”

The left is not happy about Duffy’s requests, with some among them accusing Duffy of playing politics.

“It’s a spectacular case of bureaucratic overreach masquerading as safety advocacy,” one leftist wrote at The Advocate. “If you believe ‘distraction’ is the reason to remove rainbow crosswalks, then I have a zebra crosswalk in New York City I’d like to sell you.”

“Duffy has turned crosswalks into a political football rather than focusing on structural problems like engineering, enforcement, and driver behavior. You know, things that actually cause accidents,” the leftist critique continued.

Yet it was the Obama Federal Highway Administration (FHA) that rightly ruled in 2011 that crosswalk art is “contrary to the goal of increased safety and most likely could be a contributing factor to a false sense of security for both motorists and pedestrians.”

How so? Because crosswalk art reportedly makes the white lines of the actual crosswalk much harder to distinguish from the pavement.

All this comes amid a rise in rainbow crosswalks thanks to left-wing mayors and city officials.

Just two months ago, Milwaukee “reinstalled” a rainbow crosswalk that’d been removed during temporary construction:

Rainbow crosswalks can also be seen in nearly a dozen other Democrat-controlled cities.

“Seattle has painted at least 11 rainbow crosswalks,” The Daily Signal notes. “Chicago has painted at least three. New York City painted one outside the Stonewall Inn, the site of the 1969 riot that activists call the beginning of the LGBTQ+ movement.”

“Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C., painted an LGBTQ+ ‘Pride’ flag on the road last year. Conservative-leaning states are not immune. Key West, Florida, has an intersection with four rainbow crosswalks. Huntington, West Virginia, established a rainbow crosswalk last year, as did Nashville, Tennessee,” the reporting continues.

This morning history was made in Nashville!

The #LGBTQCaucusNash, joined by @NashvilleDOT, @lipstick_lounge, @terryvofornash, @GinnyWelsch, @Campbell4TN made the first paint strokes to Nashvilles first rainbow crosswalk. pic.twitter.com/QsA9d0ZfyR

— Councilman Russ Bradford (@Bradford4D13) June 29, 2024

In 2019, the Trump FHA demanded that Ames, Iowa, remove its rainbow crosswalk, but the city reportedly refused.

“Crosswalk art has the potential to compromise pedestrian and motorist safety by interfering with, detracting from, or obscuring official traffic control devices,” the FHA said.

“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,” the organization continued.

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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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