Enough funding has been secured to create a rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of North Main Avenue and Evergreen Street. The crosswalk is expected to be painted in the next few weeks.
Evergreen Street and Main Avenue are at the center of San Antonio’s LGBT district. Last year, District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino called for the creation of a crosswalk and received approval from a City Council committee.
The councilman said it’s a way to create a welcoming environment.
“It can help symbolize both figuratively and literally a bridge to more conversations about the kind of policies that are inclusive or welcoming,” Trevino said.
The City Council’s governance committee approved the crosswalk in August. An initial estimate for the cost of the project was $68,000, with $20,000 being the cost of a traditional crosswalk paid by the city and $48,000 being proposed for the special design. The $48,000 was to be raised through private donations.
“The original estimate, it was a little bit of an overestimation,” Trevino said. “What we discovered was we just needed to know what the number was for the portion that was the theme; the theme portion of the crosswalk required (around) $20,000. So we actually got the invoice that said about $19,000 and change.”
The $19,000 was raised through donations. That money goes to the paint. The city will pay for the white stripes required for any crosswalk. Trevino said a final cost for the city’s portion was being worked out.
It was the popularity of a $15 Fiesta medal designed like the rainbow crosswalk that helped raise enough money to finance the project.
“The medal garnered about $10,000 toward the effort,” Trevino said
The crosswalk is expected to be applied to the intersection in mid to late June, just before the city’s pride parade.
Joey Palacios can be reached at Joey@TPR.org and on Twitter at @Joeycules
