TAMPA, Fla. — Everyday dozens of students utilize this colorful crosswalk to get to and from Sam Rampello Downtown Partnership School in Tampa.
The crosswalk art mural was put in place by the City of Tampa, not only to add vibrancy to the area but to also improve the safety of school children crossing the street.
WATCH: City of Tampa will begin removing nearly 50 street murals this week
“We’re pretty safe walking across here, especially with the crossing guard too, that’s extra safety,” Alicia Goff.
Goff and her fourth grader said they hate to see it disappear.
“It’s a disappointment because it really brings out the community diversity and it’s colorful. It brings out joy I think,” said Goff.
Florida’s cities are now under tight deadlines to remove street murals, with Florida Department of Transportation and federal guidance stressing safety and uniformity.
“The colors haven't really bothered me. I take my son across, and I also drive across and I haven't been distracted by it,” said Vanessa Oduah.
City of Tampa crews will begin removing nearly 50 painted street murals this week, including the Back the Blue mural outside the Tampa Police Headquarters.
Making the roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists is a top priority for nonprofit Walk Bike Tampa. They’ve painted several intersections as part of the city’s crosswalk to classroom initiative.
“It’s a low-cost way of making our crosswalks safer, they involve the community, they call attention to the crosswalks. We’ve done them as community building events where people get together and they paint the crosswalks. It also increases awareness for the community of the crosswalks, how to properly use them. So, they’re a really important tool for us so we’re disappointed that we will not have this available to us anymore,” said Janet Scherberger with Walk Bike Tampa.
FDOT has given the City of Tampa two weeks to paint over street murals.
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