Transportation Secretary Urges Governors to Remove Political Messages From Crosswalks, Intersections

If the states comply, the guidance would also put an end to painting roads with Black Lives Matter slogans and LGBT rainbows.

A view of the rainbow crosswalk during Lightbox X Coolhaus Pride Event at Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 29, 2019. Jennifer Graylock/Getty Images for Battalion PR

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter on July 1 to all 50 state governors, the mayor of Washington, D.C., and the governor of Puerto Rico urging them to remove political messaging from intersections and crosswalks.

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

In the letter, Duffy is asking all governors to ensure their states comply with the Federal Highway Administration’s SAFE ROADS initiative (Safe Arterials for Everyone through Reliable Operations and Distraction-Reducing Strategies).

The letter mentions said it is unacceptable that 39,345 Americans died on roadways in 2024, a 3.8 percent decrease from the year prior.

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

Duffy writes in his letter that his SAFE ROADS initiative aims to “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.”

He says these routes are where half of roadway fatalities occur each year in the United States, and that SAFE ROADS will partner with state and local governments to ensure the entire right‑of‑ways of their roads are “easier to interpret and navigate for all users, including pedestrians, vehicle operators, and automated vehicles alike.”

“We ask that you ensure compliance with Federal statutes and regulations and accelerate the deployment of proven safety and operational solutions to make roads safer across America,” Duffy writes.

He is asking the governors and the D.C. mayor to coordinate their state or municipal transportation departments with their metropolitan planning organizations within 60 days to “use available safety data, analysis, and assessments to 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.”

Fiscal year 2026 begins on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30, 2026. The states are asked to submit the list of locations to their Federal Highway Administration Division office.

If the states comply with the new guidance, the move would effectively ban the activist campaigns seen on roads in recent times, like Black Lives Matter slogans and LGBT rainbow crosswalks.

The letters at Black Lives Matter Plaza have been repainted after the street was repaved near the White House in Washington, May 13, 2021. Andrew Harnik, file/AP Photo

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, repainted its rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of N. Jefferson and E. Wells Streets last month to commemorate the endpoint of the first Milwaukee Pride March at Cathedral Square Park on June 17, 1989.

On June 15, 2020, Key West, Florida, city workers installed four permanent rainbow crosswalks at the intersection of Duval and Petronia streets in celebration of “Pride Month.” The area is known as the heart of Key West’s LGBT entertainment district.

Several other states, including California, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Washington, contain cities that currently feature rainbow crosswalks at specific intersections, or did in the past.