Two rainbow crosswalks on Monument Avenue in Swampscott were painted over in black and restriped with standard white lines on Friday during town roadway maintenance, erasing a visible symbol of LGBTQIA+ inclusion that had marked the intersection for years. The abrupt change caught local residents and advocates off guard, and it is already drawing pushback across the town.
The crosswalks sat on Monument Avenue and near Burrill Street, according to Swampscott Tides, which reported that the markings had served as prominent symbols of welcome before crews blacked them out. Boston 25 News also reported on the removal; the Spellios family had not been notified in advance.
The town moved quickly to explain itself. In a statement to Swampscott Tides, the Town of Swampscott said the restriping was part of regularly scheduled maintenance for traffic safety markings and stressed that the action did not reflect any decrease in commitment to supporting LGBTQIA+ residents and visitors. Town officials noted that the original rainbow paint had been applied outside the regular maintenance schedule, a distinction the municipality used to frame Friday's work as routine upkeep rather than a policy reversal.
A Donor-Funded Symbol, Repainted Without Warning
The Monument Avenue markings were part of a broader repainting project that received private donations. They trace back to June 2025, when residents Rebecca and Peter Spellios donated toward repainting nine crosswalks, while town funding covered another; 10 Pride crosswalks were repainted in all in a project that cost just under $8,000, according to the same Swampscott Tides report. That repainting project was carried out by pavement marking contractor K5 Corporation, and then-Interim Town Administrator Gino Cresta discussed its costs.
The donor family told the outlet they were not informed in advance that the crosswalks they paid to restore would be painted over again. Advocates and residents have described the unannounced change as a step that undermines community inclusion, with some noting the crosswalks had been in good physical condition before crews blacked them out.
The rainbow crosswalk initiative itself goes back further, originally launched under former Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald as a public statement of welcome and safety for LGBTQIA+ residents, per Swampscott Tides. That history is part of why the sudden repainting struck some residents as more than a routine maintenance call.
Could the Rainbow Colors Come Back?
Town leadership has left the door open to restoring the markings. Select Board Vice Chair Danielle Leonard said in October that the Monument Avenue crosswalks could potentially be repainted in rainbow colors again if the town receives another private donation and the Select Board votes to approve it, Swampscott Tides reported. Her comments point to a possible role for private donations in any future repainting.
Federal Rules Loom Over Local Decisions
Swampscott's situation sits inside a much larger regulatory picture. The Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices sets standards for crosswalk markings on roadways open to public travel, and its 11th edition discourages bright colored crosswalks without prohibiting them.
The 11th edition of the MUTCD, released in December 2023, discourages bright-colored crosswalks but no longer prohibits them. FHWA guidance on colored pavement between white crosswalk lines dates back to a 2011 statement.
Swampscott is far from alone in confronting this tension. In San Antonio, rainbow crosswalks were removed and Pride art shifted onto adjacent sidewalks, as Hoodline reported. The San Antonio dispute reflects the tension between community symbolism and pavement standards.
For now, Swampscott's Monument Avenue crosswalks remain black and white, with any rainbow return hinging on a future private donor and a Select Board vote. The town has maintained that Friday's work was about traffic safety upkeep, even as residents and the original donors continue to question why no one told them it was coming.
