Know
Pride bubbles up beneath the tar
As the black covering has worn, portions of the colored design beneath it have become easier to see.
Nearly a year after the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) covered St. Petersburg’s Progressive Pride street mural in black, the rainbow underneath is beginning to show through again.
Traces of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple are visible along portions of Central Avenue and 25th Street in the Grand Central District. Traffic has worn at the surface applied over the mural in 2025, exposing parts of the colored design beneath it.
FDOT ordered St. Petersburg to remove the mural as part of a statewide crackdown on pavement art on public roadways. The city sought exemptions for several installations, including the Progressive Pride mural, but the state rejected the request, maintaining that nonstandard pavement markings could distract or confuse drivers and conflict with roadway standards.
The Pride mural was among five St. Petersburg street installations affected by the order. City officials ultimately declined to fight the state in court, citing concerns that defiance could jeopardize transportation funding.
St. Pete Pride raised money to install the mural in 2020. Located across Central Avenue in the heart of the Grand Central District, it remained there for roughly five years and became a recognizable feature of the neighborhood.
As the state’s removal deadline approached last year, more than 100 people gathered at the intersection, leaving chalk drawings and messages on nearby sidewalks.
FDOT crews subsequently covered the mural overnight, leaving the intersection uniformly black by the following morning.
The original mural remains muted beneath the roadway, but portions of its rainbow are again discernible from the street.
The resurfacing comes nearly a year after the dispute over pavement art reached communities throughout Florida. St. Petersburg officials said at the time that they would look for other ways to recognize the installations and their significance outside roadways subject to state restrictions.
S. Rose Smith-Hayes
August 28, 2026at9:21 am
Too much time is spent on unimportant things. The colors are beautiful, but, we really need to move on to more important stuff, Government.
Hugh Hazeltine
August 28, 2026at6:47 am
It’s hard to kill a good idea. Street art slows traffic and in turn reduces accidents.
Donna Kostreva
August 27, 2026at5:49 pm
Roadways are for vehicular transit not political purposes.
Ryan Todd
August 27, 2026at3:54 pm
So St. Pete is now out-of-compliance with the Order.
Rip-up the asphalt and lay a new surface.
You know, I’d rather burn rubber on that flag everyday anyways.
Let ‘er buck!
Mike Storer
August 27, 2026at3:30 pm
anything to stir up shit…
Rita Sewell
August 26, 2026at5:59 pm
🩷❤️🧡💛💜💙🩵💚🖤🩶🤎💝☮️🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈!!!!!