Iowa City Refuses Federal Request to Remove Rainbow Crosswalks

A city in Iowa wanted to signal to residents and visitors that it is a place that promotes diversity and inclusion, so they painted rainbow blocks inside crosswalks downtown.

Now, the federal government is trying to force the city to get rid of them.

“Crosswalk art has a potential to compromise pedestrian and motorist safety by interfering with, detracting from, or obscuring official traffic control devices,” read a letter from the Federal Highway Administration, a division of the US Department of Transportation.

The notice maintains that only white lines are allowable in crosswalks, and that any art lessens the necessary contrast between the dark pavement and the bright lines signifying the area pedestrians are meant to walk in. Somehow, it seems, they’re trying to claim giant rainbows would be less noticeable than two white lines.

But city officials in Ames, Iowa aren’t interested in changing the new design.

“In terms of jurisdiction, we don’t believe the highway administration has any,” City Attorney Mark O. Lambert told city council. “With the system of federalism in the United States, the federal government does not have jurisdiction over everything.”

Ames certainly isn’t the only city in the U.S. to install rainbow crosswalks. Gay-friendly destinations such as West Hollywood, San Francisco, and Key West have permanent rainbow blocks leading pedestrians across the street. And some deviate even farther than the usual crosswalk design than the ones in Ames.

As the FHWA has not demanded any fines for disobeying their request, and can’t claim jurisdiction over the streets in questions, the Ames city council has decided to disregard the letter — for now.

“The Federal Highway Administration have misinterpreted their own rules,” said one Ames resident, Bill Diesslin. “The crosswalk lines are white pavement marking that identify the crosswalks — the rainbow crossing in Ames has white lines demarcating, so it’s consistent with federal recommendations.”