The “Painting of the Pawprints” has been a Jacksonville tradition since 1995 when volunteers celebrating another season of Jaguars football have painted bright yellow paws down Bay Street to the football stadium.
That tradition faces possible extinction, however, after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a “back to the basics” approach to traffic control will end the use of any pavement markings whose purpose isn’t road safety.
The same uncertain future clouds a colorful mural portraying interlocking geometric shapes that was painted in 2023 on San Marco Boulevard.
Duffy’s letter to governors nationwide quickly brought questions about what will happen to rainbow-colored Pride art on streets in the Riverside and Springfield neighborhoods.
“Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,” Duffy wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, about the July 1 letter. “Political banners have no place on public roads.”
The letter isn’t limited to rainbow crosswalks, however, and doesn’t even mention them specifically. Instead, Duffy wrote that nation has far too many traffic deaths and must make sure roads are “kept free from distractions.”
In his post on X, Duffy said any recipient of federal transportation funding can only put markings on streets “advancing safety, and nothing else. It’s that simple.”
The directive has left local officials uncertain what the impact is on art displays on Jacksonville streets. City spokesman Phillip Perry said further direction from the state Department of Transportation would help the city know “any necessary next steps.”
The state Department of Transportation issued its own memo on June 30 that said all traffic control devices, including pavement markings, on public streets in Florida must comply with the state’s design manual.
The memo points to a section in the manual that “explicitly prohibits the application of pavement or surface art on travel lanes, paved shoulders, intersections, crosswalks or sidewalks.”
The memo says any pavement markings that do not meet the “color, shape or dimensions” in the manual are non-compliant. It says that would include pavement surface art “associated with social, political or ideological messages or images and does not serve the purpose of traffic control.”
How those requirements apply to paw prints or street murals is at the center of communications between the city and the state Department of Transportation.
The Downtown Council of JAX Chamber organizes the Painting of the Paw Prints by gathering volunteers as football season arrives. The event doubles as a fundraiser for the Downtown Council with proceeds supporting nonprofit organizations.
The painting in the intersection of San Marco Boulevard and Nira Street was commissioned by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville through the city’s Art in Public Places program. Neptune Beach artist Ansley Randall did the design.
Kat Wright, director of public art for the Cultural Council, said the mural might have to be removed. She said the Cultural Council is seeking guidance from the state transportation department and the city’s lawyers in the Office of General Counsel.
JAX Chamber did not immediately respond to questions about what will happen to the paw prints. The next round of painting is slated for September. Volunteers should know by then whether they can break out the paint again
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Fed mandate could erase paw prints celebrating Jaguars and a pavement mural in San Marco
Reporting by David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
