The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has painted over the iconic checkered flag crosswalks near Daytona International Speedway. The change occurred overnight, leading residents to wake up Wednesday morning with a key characteristic of Int’l Speedway Blvd now gone.
The move is in accordance with a new statewide policy prohibiting messaging from being on roadways. Things kicked off when the FDOT covered up a rainbow crosswalk design near the Pulse Nightclub memorial in Orlando, the site of a mass shooting at a gay club in 2016.
Local Reactions
While the Pulse crosswalk sparked outrage from Orlando advocates, many of whom mobilized to restore the rainbow colors with chalk, the Daytona checkered flag crosswalks appear to be vanishing without as much resistance. They were redesigned with the racing theme in 2021, and don’t commemorate a national tragedy. Still, some Volusia County residents find it disappointing to see them changed.
“Regardless if it is rainbows or racing stripes, many citizens would prefer to keep their public art displays,” said local resident Annie Scull, who witnessed and photographed the covering. “There is no such thing as art without politics. If Florida continues to tear down untouched land and build new properties, at least allow the citizens to adorn them with our cultural identities. I have worked in the One Daytona complex for four years and remember when the property was once farmland. One Daytona has provided many opportunities to expand on Daytona Beach’s public art, and I find it equally as tragic to lose our racing stripes to the FDOT project.”
Erasing the Checkers
The checkered flag crosswalks were originally painted across and alongside Int’l Speedway Blvd at several intersections, including Fentress Blvd, Daytona Blvd (the entrance to One Daytona), and Bill France Blvd. They were taken in by hundreds of thousands of fans over the last five years as they made their way across the street to attend the various races, concerts, and festivals hosted at the Speedway.
Daytona International Speedway was reportedly notified of the change ahead of time by FDOT, and opted not to offer resistance. Like the Pulse memorial design, the checkered flag design would’ve been approved ahead of its installation by the FDOT when roadway art policies were different. Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending the crackdown as some cities resist the initiative.
National Context
“It’s like they think that they should just be a law unto themselves,” Gov. DeSantis said in reference to Key West and Delray Beach, both of whom are fighting to keep rainbow crosswalks. “You’re always gonna have the Key Wests of the world that are going to virtue signal. That’s just what they do.”
Still, some find it worthwhile to fight for what they see as their town’s identity. “I feel like it was an authoritative and political stunt to begin the FDOT projects with the Pulse Memorial,” Scull continued. “It was a calculated action by the State as a way to display their power against public art. It’s not an efficient use of resources, and many cities would prefer to keep their cultural decorations.”
The removal of roadway messaging in 2025, political or otherwise, has not been exclusive to Florida. In March of this year the Trump administration had a street mural with the words ‘Black Lives Matter’ removed from 16th Street NW in Washington, D.C. The writing had been installed by the Washington D.C. government in 2020 during the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.
