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Gov. DeSantis addresses crackdown on street art
FOX 13's Kylie Jones reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Governor Ron DeSantis responded to the outcry over an order from the Florida Department of Transportation to remove street art that could violate traffic safety guidelines.
The governor was in Tampa on Tuesday morning, where he and the FDOT secretary doubled down on the statewide order.
RELATED: Tampa will remove 47 street murals after state order
The backstory:
DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1662 into law in June. FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue described the bill as an effort to keep transportation facilities free and clear of political ideologies.
FDOT is ordering cities and counties to identify and potentially remove artwork on roadways that may violate state traffic control guidelines. State officials have said "non-standard surface markings" can cause distractions or misunderstandings on the road and jeopardize driver and pedestrian safety.
According to a written statement by an FDOT spokesperson to FOX 13 last month, Senate Bill 1662 directs FDOT "to ensure compliance with FDOT’s uniform system for traffic control devices. To follow the provisions of the law, FDOT is currently performing an evaluation on facilities across the state."
In a post on X last month, Perdue said the move is an effort "to ensure we keep our transportation facilities free & clear of political ideologies."
Perdue said they compiled a list of more than 400 locations with street art around the state. Those locations include dozens of pieces of street art in the Tampa Bay area.
The City of Tampa said 47 murals, painted crosswalks and pieces of street art will be removed, including a "Back the Blue" mural outside the Tampa Police Department. In St. Pete, several murals will be covered up, including a Pride mural, a USF campus mural and a "Black History Matters" mural.
What they're saying:
"We're not doing the commandeering of the roads to put up messaging," DeSantis said.
READ: FDOT denies St. Pete's request to keep several street murals on roadways
On Tuesday, at a transportation press conference, DeSantis said the move was a policy change by the state legislature.
"The roads are there for either pedestrians to cross or cars to go, and that's what it's going to be," DeSantis said.
State leaders said there are no exceptions.
"I don't think those kids were doing anything wrong," DeSantis said. "I think it's just a change in policy, and we don't want to be in a situation where we're playing whack-a-mole. So, 'Oh, well, no, that mural's fine, but that's not. We think the pedestrians may get confused there. We think a driver, oh no, that's fine,' because then you get into like, 'Oh, there's a content thing and all that.' No, we're just not doing it."
FDOT has said state funding could be withheld from any municipalities that refuse to comply with the order.
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"Anything that was previously permitted or installed or awarded, anything you can bring up from the past, essentially is irrelevant now, because we have a new law and we have a new standard, and we're simply implementing that standard, and it's across the board," Perdue said.
The other side:
St. Pete wrote a letter to FDOT last Wednesday, asking to keep five street murals from being removed.
In the letter, the city asked FDOT to allow it to keep street murals at five locations – Central Avenue and 5th Street, Central Avenue and 25th Street, 6th Avenue South and 2nd Street South, 9th Avenue South and 22nd Lane South, and 11th Avenue South and 46th Street South.
These include a Pride rainbow mural, a USF-themed mural and a Black History Matters mural outside the Woodson African American History Museum. The city also asked the FDOT to keep artistic murals at Central Avenue and 5th Street South and 11th Avenue and 46th Street South.
In the city of St. Pete's letter to FDOT this week, it said crash data showed that certain street murals on its roadways aren't a safety risk. City officials did a three-year before-and-after crash analysis on the intersection on Central Avenue where the first mural was installed.
FDOT denied the city's request.
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On Monday, St. Pete leaders vowed to find alternative ways to display the city's culture and values of inclusivity.
"The state can remove the paint from our streets," St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch said. "They can remove those symbols, but they cannot bind the spirit of the city of St. Petersburg or silence our voice."
What's next:
FDOT has said street art at the identified locations must be removed by September 4.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kylie Jones.