WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Amidst the Florida Department of Transportation’s aggressive campaign to eradicate road murals, one mural in West Palm Beach has surfaced as a topic of intrigue and debate.
WATCH BELOW: 'Cover them all or don’t cover any,' Joanne Caruso tells WPTV's Joel Lopez
With the majority of local artwork being cleared from roadways, locals can't help but wonder why a now nearly mile-long mural on Rosemary Avenue has survived.
It currently stretches from Evernia Street to 11th Street, with a small gap from a road project.
The city of West Palm Beach created what they called a "Road Tattoo" project in 2018 connecting CityPlace to 11th Street with a mile of painted flowers, swirls and music notes.
The lengthy display features a blend of blue, white, and yellow designs, standing resilient while over 500 road murals have been removed statewide.
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“If it’s really the Department of Transportation's rule that you can’t have a mural, then every mural has to go," Joanne Caruso, a resident of Downtown West Palm Beach, stated. "Cover them all or don’t cover any.”
She mentioned she helped paint the mural back in 2018 but highlighted the inconsistency of the enforcement, especially after FDOT stepped in to sandblast a Pride mural in Delray Beach, while the city is actively in a legal battle to protect the mural, igniting debates about the fairness of these regulations.
Locals' confusion has only deepened given the swift actions taken against murals that seem to fall under similar categories.
"If it's the law, then it has to go. I don't care what it is. If they're just covering those (Pride) murals then that's not right, because it's not what they (FDOT) said it is," Caruso emphasized, asserting that if the FDOT is enforcing the rules, it should be a universal application.
The city of Boynton Beach painted over its Pride mural in July to "ensure full compliance with state and federal transportation mandates and address safety concerns."
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In August, the city of West Palm Beach removed its Pride crosswalk in Northwood, with plans to use rainbow bricks for the area to create an LGBTQ+ monument at Serenity Park.
Those plans are currently in development.
WPTV also heard from residents who navigate their daily lives around the Rosemary Ave artwork.
“It’s not safe to be honest; I almost got hit crossing the street,” Kerby Dorvil stated.
He observed how the designs have complicated the lines of traffic, creating confusion for drivers.
"I've noticed cars in the middle of the road going crazy," said Dorvil who said he's seen cars misidentify the music staff painted on the road for traffic lanes and drive on the wrong side of the street.
“There’s really no guide. You got lines everywhere,” he said.
WPTV took questions to the city of West Palm Beach that issued a statement regarding the future of Rosemary Avenue:
"The City of West Palm Beach is finalizing the schedule for repaving sections of Rosemary Avenue, with work to be completed as soon as practical and in full compliance with state standards. The City has complied with an FDOT directive regarding the crosswalks at Spruce Avenue and Northwood Road by removing the non-compliant elements, and remains committed to ensuring all roadway markings and improvements meet FDOT regulations."
FDOT's directive from June 30th requested roads that are not in compliance be removed “immediately.”
“What would be your message to FDOT when it comes to this?" asked WPTV reporter Joel Lopez to Marvin Lagerre who lives in West Palm Beach.
"Man focus on priorities, focus on fixing the potholes, the streets, the neighborhoods," replied Lagerre. "Doesn’t it cost taxpayers money to remove the murals? It’s already been done, who cares? There’s more important things to take care of."
WPTV has been working to get answers from FDOT for weeks now on the road mural crackdown and have not gotten a response.
Read more of WPTV's related coverage below:
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