The crosswalk in Maplewood | Photo: YouTube/NJ.com
New Jersey is the latest state to get in on rainbow crosswalks. A small town in the north-eastern part of the state, Maplewood, is Jersey’s first town to install permanent, colorful crosswalks.
The town, with a population of 23,867 as of the 2010 census, revealed the crosswalks on Thursdays (7 June).
They put bright rainbows on all four sides of the intersection and they’re definitely eye-catching.
‘We want to do something that would serve as a permanent marker or symbol of our commitment to inclusion,’ Dean Dafis, the first openly LGBTQ Mapplewood Township Committee member, told NJ.com.
In a Facebook video revealing the crosswalks, it simply says: ‘LGBT pride isn’t only for Pride Month.’
Benefitting everyone
Dafis explains in another video that the crosswalks also have more benefits beyond pride.
‘Federal guidelines require certain code compliances to make this work as a proper crosswalk and it so turns out this is also a public safety benefit,’ he says.
‘It makes the crosswalk more visible and more effective. The drivers see it, slow down upon approach, and so we get that benefit out of it as well.’
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Dafis continues: ‘We are an incredibly diverse and progressive comunity, and this serves as yet another symbol.’
Rainbow crosswalks have become a common feature of cities, especially during Pride. Only some cities, however, have opted to make them permanent.
West Hollywood, naturally, was one of the first cities to make that choice.
Other places like Atlanta and Denver have done the same.
As for whether or not these crosswalks have any impact, Dublin, Ireland seems to think so.
