Texas has ordered the City of Dallas to submit a plan by January 31 to remove decorative pavement markings — including rainbow crosswalks in Oak Lawn — or risk losing state and federal transportation funding.
The ultimatum marks the latest escalation in a months-long standoff between the state and one of the last major cities still resisting compliance over what Governor Greg Abbott has labeled “political” roadway markings.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) rejected Dallas’s exemption request Monday morning, citing the city’s failure to meet state uniformity standards and its inability to provide safety certification signed and sealed by a licensed traffic engineer.
TxDOT warned that failure to comply by the January 31 deadline could result in the withholding of state and federal transportation funding or the suspension of existing agreements between the state and the city.
The conflict began October 8, 2025, when Abbott directed TxDOT to strictly enforce federal and state roadway safety standards, ordering cities to remove non-standard surface markings conveying political or ideological messages. Dallas officials sought an exemption in November, arguing the Oak Lawn crosswalks were privately funded and posed no safety risk, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
Dallas City Councilman Paul Ridley, who represents Oak Lawn, disputed the state’s safety claims. Ridley cited national survey data suggesting traffic accidents decline at some non-standard crosswalks, arguing there was “no justification” for the state to classify the markings as a safety risk.
State Rep. Venton Jones, a Dallas Democrat, criticized the directive as a distraction from issues such as the economy, health care, and housing affordability.
Dallas now stands among the final major holdouts. Houston removed its Montrose neighborhood rainbow crosswalks in October under the state mandate, while Austin and Laredo have already complied to protect their infrastructure budgets, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The city must now decide whether to submit a removal plan or attempt another exemption request supported by proper engineering certification before the January 31 deadline.
Meanwhile, some organizations have pursued workarounds. Oak Lawn United Methodist Church recently painted its front steps in rainbow colors — a move that falls outside TxDOT’s jurisdiction because the steps sit on private, historic property, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
