Federal Highway Administration Bureaucrat Says Rainbow Crosswalks Are a Liability

Jack Brammer and Beth Musgrave report: "The Federal Highway Administration wants Lexington Mayor Jim Gray to remove a rainbow-themed crosswalk in downtown Lexington that was installed to promote diversity, saying it poses a legal liability to the city."

Thomas L. Nelson Jr., administrator for the Kentucky division of the Federal Highway Administration in Frankfort, wrote a two-page letter to Mayor Gray, which includes a pronouncement that "rainbow-themed crosswalks and other forms of crosswalk art are not compliant with federal standards," according to the article. The text of the letter reads as follows:

Allowing a non-compliant pavement marking to remain in place presents a significant liability concern for LFUCG (Lexington Fayette Urban County Government) in the event of a pedestrian/vehicle collision….It also creates potential confusion for motorists, pedestrians and other jurisdictions who may see these markings and install similar crosswalk treatments in their cities.

Brammer and Musgrave attempted to follow up with Nelson and the FHA public affairs office in Washington "about what the federal government would do if Lexington keeps the rainbow crossing and what the FHA is doing about rainbow crossings in several other U.S. cities," but hadn't heard a response.