In a move that's about as welcome as a pothole in a bike lane, Lewisville's creative crosswalks are being scrubbed away to adhere to the latest state mandates. The public learned of the town's imminent loss through a social media post from Lewisville City Hall, which outlined the mandate requiring the removal of the "non-standard" artwork that had turned ordinary crosswalks into snippets of public joy.
This regulation, passed down by Governor Greg Abbott and enforced by TxDOT, leaves Lewisville, along with other Texan cities, no choice but to strip away these bursts of color that dotted their mundane streets for who knows why, safety, aesthetics, or some combination of Kafka and Orwell? With the artists informed and the locations detailed on the city website, the countdown to the wipeout of what was once an art-infused walking experience has begun.
The directive, as stated on October 8, is part of a move to get Texas cities and counties in line with federal and state roadway-safety regulations or face the threat of losing transportation funding. A sort of bureaucratic sledgehammer to crack the walnut of local character, if you will. While some have tried to push back, looking for exemptions to preserve this layer of urban texture, it turns out that paint and pavement politics don't mix, with no luck.
