Delray Beach Could Face Federal Pushback, Funding Loss Over ‘Pride Intersection’

Delray Beach’s ‘Pride Intersection’ in the Pineapple Grove neighborhood, May 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Political displays along roadways and within public intersections have faced opposition from both sides of the aisle – most notably “thin blue line” displays in support of law enforcement, and rainbow-colored “pride” displays painted on crosswalks and in the interior of intersections. A new effort announced by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy this week aims to end all political messaging on public roadways, and could be enforced by withholding federal funds from cities or counties that do not comply the agency’s directives.

In Delray Beach, the city’s “pride intersection” at NE 2nd Avenue and NE 1st Street in the Pineapple Grove district made national headlines when it was vandalized last year by a driver doing “donuts” in the intersection. The 20-year-old driver was sentenced to probation earlier this year, and city officials added a fresh coat of paint to the intersection in early June in anticipation of the city’s pride celebration downtown. But just as officials have pondered whether public funding for the gay pride celebration could jeopardize its ability to receive grants in the future, they may now have to consider whether leaving the intersection decorated with the rainbow symbolism could put millions of dollars in federal highway funding at risk.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy on Tuesday launched a nationwide roadway safety initiative to “prioritize investments that improve mobility and safety on roadways” in numerous ways, including the removal of non-standard artwork that could potentially distract drivers.

Delray Beach’s ‘Pride Intersection’ in the Pineapple Grove neighborhood. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Duffy noted in a letter sent to all 50 state governors this week that intersections and crosswalks “need to be kept free from distractions,” which includes political messages of any nature, artwork, or anything else that “detracts from the core mission of driver and pedestrian safety,” the letter stated.

Known as the SAFE ROADS (an acronym for Safe Arterials for Everyone through Reliable Operations and Distraction-Reducing Strategies) initiative, the effort will require governors to direct their departments of transportation, in working with their local partners, to collect a list of roadways or intersections with potential or documented safety or operational concerns that will be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration. Roadway grants to local jurisdictions are often tied to compliance with federal safety and design standards

While the FHA will use the data to identify roadways and intersections that should be prioritized for both traffic and pedestrian safety improvements to be funded by the agency, it is also likely the data will be used to encourage the removal of political messaging on public roadways that some argue distract drivers from traditional roadway markings. In the case of Delray Beach’s pride intersection, all roadway markings are removed from the center of the intersection in favor of the rainbow coloration. White crosswalk lines remain visible, but are surrounded by swaths of light blue paint and nine other colors in the middle portion. A double-yellow line ends before a vehicle approaches the intersection, with no lane markings present within the rainbow-painted portion.

Under federal highway rules adopted during the Obama administration, “thin blue line” displays were ordered removed from several communities because they were deemed to have the potential to interfere with lane markings. The issue received limited attention on the federal level during the first Trump administration, however after “pride intersections” began to become more popular after 2020, the Biden administration in 2024 largely excepted them from enforcement. While a federal manual on traffic devices “discourages the use of bright colors within crosswalks,” it no longer explicitly prohibited them, as long as they don’t “mimic standard traffic control colors.” Cities, as a result, began replacing rainbow-designed crosswalks with colorful paint inside the intersections themselves, which was an alternative largely believed to comply with the manual.

A new traffic control device manual will likely update the guidance again, with Duffy signalling this week that political messaging would be a top issue to be addressed.

“Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork,” he said in a statement. “Today I am calling on governors in every state to ensure that roadways, intersections, and crosswalks are kept free of distractions. Far too many Americans die each year to traffic fatalities to take our eye off the ball. USDOT stands ready to help communities across the country make their roads safer and easier to navigate.”

Delray Beach has received significant federal funding for road projects within the city limits in recent years, with some projects ongoing. They include about $5 million for a project to improve Germantown Road, a 1.5-mile street stretching southeast from Linton Boulevard, ending at Congress Avenue, as well as numerous projects funded by the Florida Department of Transportation with federal dollars that trickle down to the local level.

There are also numerous federally-funded projects in unincorporated Delray Beach, including work expanding Atlantic Avenue near SR-7 (US 441). That project’s local share would come under the jurisdiction of Palm Beach County, however.

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Delray Beach has long been known for its progressive political stances, though local politics has begun to see a shift as the city undergoes significant redevelopment and Palm Beach County adds more and more Republican voters, chipping away at a long-held Democratic majority. In 2016, Democrats held a 114,260 voter lead county-wide, which plunged to 42,784 by the end of 2024.

The city has continued to maintain strong support for the LGBT community, however, budgeting public funds for its annual pride event and promoting the repainted intersection following the “donut” incident. Recently, Vice Mayor Rob Long made a point to read a Pride Month proclamation in its entirety into the record at a city commission meeting in a demonstration of his support for the community. Still, commissioners have held hearings on whether continuing to fund the pride celebration with taxpayer dollars could put other grants in jeopardy after being advised of the risk by the city’s lobbyist in Tallahassee.

The Pineapple Grove intersection was painted in 2021. According to the city’s website, six colors of the “traditional Pride flag” are painted at the intersection, as well as five additional colors of the “Progress Pride flag,” which represent “people of color, and trans and non-binary individuals.”

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