Wichita Falls Removes Painted Crosswalks Downtown to Comply with DOT

The Department of Transportation back in November said that all painted crosswalks in cities across America had to go. Looks like Wichita Falls musical crosswalks are no more.

In case you missed my original story, you can check it out here. Basically I wrote my story because the city of Lubbock announced that their Buddy Holly crosswalk had to go to comply with this new order. Any crosswalk with art in it whatsoever had to be removed by the end of 2026. Some Wichita Falls citizens left comments on my story like the one below.

Well Ron Kephart, I appreciate you thinking I am making up this letter that was sent ACROSS the country to all fifty governors. Well it turns out Ron, I was right, so f*** off!

Wichita Falls Art Crosswalks Have Been Removed

As of yesterday the Seventh Street musical crosswalks have been painted in the approved standard white lines that you see at every other crosswalk. The Department of Transportation said the reason that art would need to be removed by the end of the year was to clear any distractions while driving. This is called the Safe Roads Initiative if you want to read more about it.

How Much Did it Cost to Remove the Crosswalks?

I reached out to the city of Wichita Falls this morning for a comment on how much it cost to get rid of these crosswalks to comply with the order. No comment from the city has been given as of this posting. Based on findings from other cities, it cost somewhere between $750-$2,500 to install an art installation crosswalk. The city did not pay to have the crosswalk installed, they gave approval for downtown development back in 2018, which you can see above. Looks like it costs around $300 to remove the art and install standard white lines compared to other cities across the country.