State bans pavement art, threatens to withhold funding 

St. Petersburg must remove and prohibit street murals honoring the city’s diversity and inclusivity, along with any other roadway and sidewalk art, or potentially lose state funding. 

An internal Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) memo dated June 30 highlights the state’s prohibition of pavement or surface art and the need to ensure compliance. Assistant Secretary Will Watts cited safety concerns and the potential interference with automated vehicles.

Watts wrote that “social, political or ideological messages or images” are examples of non-compliant street art. The memo, obtained by the Catalyst, also states that enforcing the ban would ensure the state’s design practices align with national standards. 

“Failure to remove non-compliant traffic control devices or pavement markings shall be cause for withholding of state funds,” Watts wrote. “Permission to allow non-compliant traffic control devices or pavement markings to remain may be granted at the department’s discretion, if the public agency is able to demonstrate good cause for doing so.”

St. Petersburg’s Black History Matters and Pride murals are not likely to qualify, according to recent comments from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. He gave states 60 days to provide the federal government with a compliance plan in a July 1 letter to governors.

Duffy subsequently offered his thoughts on social media. “Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,” he posted. 

“Political banners have no place on public roads. I’m reminding recipients of @USDOT roadway funding that it’s limited to features advancing safety, and nothing else. It’s that simple.” 

Vandals have repeatedly defaced the “Progressive Pride” mural in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District. Photo: Metro Inclusive Health.

The FDOT memo states that non-standard markings lead to distracted driving and jeopardize driver and pedestrian safety. It highlights a 2025 Design Manual chapter that “stresses the importance of clarity, consistency and uniformity in traffic control.” 

The memo also notes that the 2023 Florida Greenbook explicitly prohibits pavement and surface art. The ban applies to all public roads. 

Multiple FDOT officials could not be reached for comment. 

Local governments cannot allow art on travel lanes, paved shoulders, intersections or sidewalks. Chalk drawings are seemingly prohibited, as the FDOT defines art as “any surface markings that are not in direct support of traffic control or public safety.” 

Watts believes the memo “showcases Florida’s proactive steps” to align with recently enacted legislation. He said the state’s preemptive policy has “garnered further support with our federal partners,” and cited a letter from Duffy that further supports their “shared vision of safety.” 

In June 2020, the City of St. Petersburg partnered with the Woodson African American Museum of Florida to unveil the city’s “Black Lives Matter” mural as part of a Juneteenth celebration. The SHINE Mural Office facilitated the artwork in solidarity with protests against police brutality and systemic racism. Stakeholders replaced it with a “Black History Matters” mural in June 2023. 

The “Black History Matters” mural in the Deuces Live District. Photo: City of St. Petersburg.

In July 2020, St. Pete Pride raised enough money to paint a rainbow-striped mural in the Grand Central District. The organization received City and FDOT approval, although the art clearly does not align with Duffy’s social media post. 

The “Progressive Pride” flag mural initially faced delays due to the FDOT’s restrictions on non-uniform crosswalk colors. The Orlando Sentinel highlighted the discrepancy when it recently urged the city to protect similar street art honoring the June 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre. 

According to the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the agency’s “position has always been, and continues to be, that subdued-color aesthetic treatments between the legally marked transverse crosswalk lines are permissible, provided that they are devoid of retroreflective properties and that they do not diminish the legally required white transverse pavement marking used to establish the crosswalk.” 

The FDOT memo does not offer any color allowances to surface art “associated with social, political or ideological messages or images.” 

Watts wrote that the department “has the authority to enforce compliance and withhold state funds from any public agency” it finds non-compliant. “This includes directing the removal of … pavement art installations.” 

The Sentinel argued that “there is no compelling evidence” that street art decreases safety. A local group dedicated to “transforming our city into a safer and more accessible place for everyone” made the same argument.

Activate St. Pete cited a Bloomberg Philanthropies study that compared before-and-after crash data at 17 pavement art locations. Seven of the sites were in Florida, and the April 2022 study found an average 17.3% reduction in accidents in those areas.

The Sentinel highlighted the same study and noted that Bloomberg helped fund the street art installations it analyzed. However, the analysis found that crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists at those locations decreased by 50%.