By next June, Alexandria could have more Pride-themed decorations around town, including rainbow crosswalks and artwork in the new pedestrian zone.
At a City Council meeting earlier this week, City Council member Kirk McPike urged city staff to take another look at adding a rainbow crosswalk to King Street and Pride-themed art in the pedestrian zone.
“A few months ago, members of the Human Rights Commission came to me to express their dismay that city staff had declined a request to place rainbow crosswalks at King Street and Washington Street,” McPike said. “Undeterred, members of the Commission came to me with a different option: streetscape of 100 block of King Street.”
In 2021, the City of Alexandria permanently converted the 100 block of King Street into a pedestrian-only zone. Since then, the city has looked for ways to make the block look and feel more permanent.
But McPike said he still holds out hope for the rainbow crosswalk idea.
“We also discussed the rationale behind opposing the original proposed crosswalks, which might make sense on paper but hasn’t been borne out in reality,” McPike said. “More than 100 cities across the world have installed rainbow crosswalks including Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadephia, Milwaukee, Albuquerque, and even Alexandria’s very own suburb: Washington D.C. There’s no evidence that such crosswalks have resulted in a reduction of pedestrian safety.”
With the support of the City Council, McPike told city staff to come back to the Council in October or November with a report on the feasibility of new pride artwork and new rainbow crosswalks.
The potential to add new rainbow crosswalks should please at least one bizarrely specific Twitter account:
— Does Alexandria Have a Rainbow Crosswalk Yet? (@alxrainbow) June 5, 2023
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