Dallas could try to restore decorative crosswalks

A Dallas City Council member hopes Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa will allow the city to bring back its decorative crosswalks. The city removed several crosswalks because of a directive from Governor Abbott. They included Rainbow Crosswalks in Oak Lawn and the Black Lives Matter Crosswalk in South Dallas. Fox 4's Amelia Jones has more on how a new administration could make the change. Amelia. Heather, Dallas City Councilman Chad West said city manager is on board with his request and plans to reach out to Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa's office. More than a year after a state mandate forced Dallas to remove its rainbow and decorative crosswalks, the colorful street designs could be coming back. There's a lot of priorities in the state and a lot of very important issues to face. This is, to me, a pretty easy one. Dallas City Councilman Chad West wrote to the city manager asking her to contact Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa's team to restore the crosswalks, which would mean she could rescind former Governor Greg Abbott's October 2025 state mandate to remove them. So now we've got a new regime. We're hoping to see a little bit more tolerance and a more of a focus on what's really important in the state. And that doesn't involve the removal of crosswalks, I would assume. West shared that Dallas City Manager Kim Tolbert immediately responded in support and plans to reach out to Hinojosa's team soon. The painted crosswalks were privately funded projects, and the city of Dallas asked TxDOT for an exception, but was ultimately forced First to remove them. West called the state mandate an attack on the LGBTQ plus community. Putting the crosswalks in hurts no one. Taking them away, to me, is a slap in the face of our community. The removal required city funds and manpower from the Transportation and Public Works Department. There are 12 total crosswalks listed in West's request, including the intersection of Cedar Springs Road and Oakland Avenue, where the Methodist Church responded to the mandate. By painting its steps, West says he's never received an email against the colorful crosswalks, only overwhelming support to save them. So I anticipate seeing the community rallying behind this, both the LGBTQ plus community and also all of the allies that we have in Dallas. And there's quite a few of those to get the crosswalks put back in, assuming the governor's Governor's office supports this request. West put this request in on Tuesday night, so it's unclear if it would need any action from the full council. Now, it's also important to note that Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa would not be able to take any action until she is sworn in on January 19th.