Rainbow crosswalk in Maplewood near the municipal building.
United States Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has launched a nationwide roadway safety initiative that among other things calls for the elimination of art and political messages on roadways.
“Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork. Today I am calling on governors in every state to ensure that roadways, intersections, and crosswalks are kept free of distractions,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “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.”
Duffy sent a letter to every governor, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, asking states to participate in the “Federal Highway Administration’s Safe Arterials for Everyone through Reliable Operations and Distraction-Reducing Strategies—SAFE ROADS—initiative.”
The program targets non-freeway arterial roads where more than half of U.S. roadway deaths occur, according to a press release from the federal transportation agency.
In the letter, Duffy said that intersections and crosswalks need to be kept free from distractions, including political messages, artwork, or anything else that detracts from the core mission of driver and pedestrian safety.
A spokesperson for Gov. Murphy said they were unaware of the letter and had no communications from the governor about it.
Several Essex County municipalities have art or messages on roadways, including Irvington, Maplewood, West Orange, East Orange and Orange.
Irvington unveiled a Black Lives Matter mural on Civic Square in October of 2020. Maplewood has rainbow crosswalks by its municipal building and Black Lives Matter written on Springfield Avenue by the police station.
In 2022, the Traffic Safety Youth Advisory Board from West Orange High School, members of the Nikhil Badlani Foundation, WOHS arts students, township council members and West Orange Pedestrian Safety Advisory Board members participated in the creation of a street mural to slow down traffic and make the Hazel neighborhood safer. The mural was painted on Mitchell Street next to Hazel Avenue Elementary School.
In recent years, street art, also known as asphalt art, has become a popular method to improve public safety. In a 2022 report from Bloomberg Philanthropies, researchers analyzed the impact of street art on crashes and found that it reduced crashes involving vulnerable road users by 50 percent and overall crashes by 17 percent.
In June, murals were painted by local artists in East Orange at South Harrison Street and Freeway Drive West and in Orange at South Essex Avenue and Tony Galento Plaza.
The object of the effort was to reduce vehicle speeds and crashes by using temporary infrastructure changes to create safer, more accessible streets for all types of users, according to organizers, which included the cities of East Orange and Orange.
In his letter to the governors, Duffy said that he was encouraged that the estimates of traffic fatalities for 2024 continue a downward trend, decreasing 3.8 percent from 2023, but more could be done.
“The SAFE ROADS national initiative will focus on the non-freeway arterials within your state, including safety and operation at intersections and along segments, consistent and recognizable traffic control devices including crosswalk and intersection markings, and orderly use of the right‑of‑way that is kept free from distractions,” Duffy wrote. “These routes are where more than half of roadway fatalities in America occur and deserve enhanced attention.”
Duffy asked the governors to ensure compliance with Federal statutes and regulations and accelerate the deployment of proven safety and operational solutions to make roads safer.
“Within 60 days, I request that your state DOT, in coordination with your metropolitan planning organizations, use available safety data, analysis, and assessments to develop a list of arterial segments, including intersections, with the highest safety, operational, or compliance concerns that will be addressed by the end of Fiscal Year 2026,” he wrote.
The FHWA will track the progress of this nationwide initiative and support state DOTs as they develop plans.
The press office of the federal Department of Transportation declined to answer specific questions about the program and if, or how, it could be enforced.
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