MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A rainbow crosswalk in Miami Beach has officially been removed after a long legal battle between the city and the state, still residents are stunned by the bold move and are worried about what its removal signifies.
People in Miami Beach stopped to take photos along Ocean Drive Monday morning, astonished by the removal of the iconic rainbow crosswalk.
“I wanted to take a video because I think it’s ironic that we’re removing rainbow flags from the sidewalk, crosswalk because somehow its offending somebody,” said Michael Travis.
The colorful pavers off 12th Street were dug up by the Florida Department of Transportation Sunday night.
In its place—black pavement.
“To be honest, it feels like this removal was intended to be hurtful,” said resident Claire Humpeutel. “We’re spending money on that instead of multiple other things that are impacting people here.”
“I was a little in shock that they actually did it. I knew there was talk about it but I didn’t think it would happen,” said Laura Vento. “I think it’s a bit extreme, you know, to me it was beautiful.”
A large crowd gathered in protest as workers removed the colorful pavers one by one and then laid down black tar.
“It’s a slightly colored sidewalk! Come on, grow up, whoever is doing this,” said a passerby.
“We’re here to fight, we’re not going anywhere,” said another figure.
Others expressed they feel it’s frivolous on the government’s part.
“It is wrong. It is a misuse of public tax dollars what they’re doing, and I hope that future government rights this wrong,” said former City Commissioner Michael Gongora.
The removal comes after FDOT ordered local governments including Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Key West to remove any pavement associated with social political or ideological messages, or jeopardize their state funding.
In August, the rainbow crosswalk outside Orlando’s pulse nightclub—where 49 people were killed in the 2016 massacre—was erased.
State leaders have argued the crosswalk pose a risk to road safety, saying, colorful designs could be a distraction for drivers and don’t enhance traffic safety.
“It wasn’t distracting to me, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t bothering anybody else,” said Gabrielle Johnson.
Still, officials pushed back.
“They had to remove a ‘Back the Blue’ [display], they had to remove some of these other things, so it spans different things,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “but we’ve made the policy decision to in Florida, you know. We’re not going to use the roads for that purpose; the roads are there for either pedestrians to cross or cars to go, and that’s what it’s going to be.”
Miami Beach city officials worked relentlessly to fight the removal to no avail.
“This is one of the safest crosswalks in all of Ocean Drive. It feels wasteful but we won’t let the state of Florida keep Miami Beach from being visible as an inclusive city,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez.
FDOT did not immediately returns 7News’s request for comment on the latest removal as well as the cost for the project.
Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.
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