Pensacola asks FDOT to remove A Street mural, pledges compliance
By T.S. Strickland
August 26, 2025 at 9:33 AM CDT
Pensacola will comply with a state order to remove the “Black Lives Matter” mural on A Street, but the city wants the Florida Department of Transportation to handle the job. The request comes with a Sept. 4 deadline and reflects a wider clash over public art, protest and the limits of local control in Florida.
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Mayor D.C. Reeves, in a letter sent Monday, said the city lacks the staff to meet the deadline on its own, especially given the mural’s location near Cervantes Street, a state road.
“Given existing commitments and constraints upon the City’s resources, the City’s timely removal of the Pavement Markings as directed by the Letter is impracticable,” Reeves wrote. “... The City requests that FDOT perform the work necessary to bring the portion of A Street containing the Pavement Markings into compliance with the Regulations and charge those related costs back to the City.”
FDOT’s Aug. 21 notice identified the A Street markings as a noncompliant traffic-control device, directed their removal by early September, said the state could step in and remove them at the city’s expense if Pensacola failed to act, and warned that noncompliance could result in the withholding of state funds.
How we got here
The A Street mural was installed in June 2020 amid nationwide demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd. It was permitted by the city under then‑Mayor Grover Robinson, with local artists painting the words “Black Lives Matter” on the pavement between Cervantes and Gadsden streets. Robinson praised the project as fostering community pride and even slowing traffic along the corridor.
READ MORE: Why Florida is banning street art with political, social or ideological messaging
Later that summer, however, the city ended its street‑mural permitting program after an influx of commercial requests and competing proposals raised concerns about fairness and commercialization. In November 2020, an unpermitted “Trump 2020” mural was painted onto 12th Avenue in the East Hill neighborhood. Because it was unauthorized and the prohibition was already in place, city crews removed it within 24 hours. In Milton, activists also pushed for a BLM street mural, but the city council rejected the idea and instead approved an anti‑racism art cube downtown. Together, those episodes underscored the contentious politics of public space in Northwest Florida.
A state directive, and a broader push to preempt
The Pensacola directive arrived as FDOT undertakes a broader effort in 2025 to remove political or social messages painted on public streets, including rainbow crosswalks and other themed pavement markings in cities across Florida. The agency has cited uniform traffic‑control standards — including the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, FDOT’s Design Manual and the Florida Greenbook — which it says apply to all public roads without exception. In its Aug. 21 letter, FDOT pointed to those standards in declaring Pensacola’s mural a violation and warning of funding consequences if it remained.
The action fits a broader trend in Tallahassee. In recent years, the Legislature and governor have increasingly preempted local governments on matters ranging from housing and tenant protections to environmental rules and even pandemic orders. By asserting authority over markings on city streets, FDOT has extended that preemption into the realm of public art.
That posture is visible in Pensacola on other fronts. The Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is conducting a sweeping review of City Hall, examining spending, hiring and program compliance across departments. While the audit is broad, one focus is whether city programs align with new state restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — a particularly relevant area given the debates surrounding the A Street mural.
What Reeves said Tuesday
At his weekly press conference, Reeves emphasized cooperation with FDOT.
“We've said we will comply," he said. "We would like their help in terms of being able to execute it.”On public sentiment, he noted the city’s divided politics.
“The city of Pensacola, you know, politically speaking is a 50-50 city," he said. "... For this mural, there's folks that are certainly passionate about the what and why behind it, and there's folks that are passionate about whether it exists or not. And if the political message were to be something different, I imagine you'd see an exact inverse. So what is the role of the city of Pensacola? The role of the city of Pensacola is to follow federal and state law and to not be necessarily picking sides.”Asked his personal opinion, Reeves demurred further.
“I really don't have any," he said. "... It is not very high on our priority list to be getting into lots of political discussions at the end of the day. I feel like my job as mayor is to keep everybody safe, the 55,000 people who live here and the hundreds of thousands who visit here. And most of the bandwidth in my brain is dedicated to this.”
Support Local Stories. Support Public Media.
Mayor D.C. Reeves, in a letter sent Monday, said the city lacks the staff to meet the deadline on its own, especially given the mural’s location near Cervantes Street, a state road.
“Given existing commitments and constraints upon the City’s resources, the City’s timely removal of the Pavement Markings as directed by the Letter is impracticable,” Reeves wrote. “... The City requests that FDOT perform the work necessary to bring the portion of A Street containing the Pavement Markings into compliance with the Regulations and charge those related costs back to the City.”
FDOT’s Aug. 21 notice identified the A Street markings as a noncompliant traffic-control device, directed their removal by early September, said the state could step in and remove them at the city’s expense if Pensacola failed to act, and warned that noncompliance could result in the withholding of state funds.
How we got here
The A Street mural was installed in June 2020 amid nationwide demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd. It was permitted by the city under then‑Mayor Grover Robinson, with local artists painting the words “Black Lives Matter” on the pavement between Cervantes and Gadsden streets. Robinson praised the project as fostering community pride and even slowing traffic along the corridor.
READ MORE: Why Florida is banning street art with political, social or ideological messaging
Later that summer, however, the city ended its street‑mural permitting program after an influx of commercial requests and competing proposals raised concerns about fairness and commercialization. In November 2020, an unpermitted “Trump 2020” mural was painted onto 12th Avenue in the East Hill neighborhood. Because it was unauthorized and the prohibition was already in place, city crews removed it within 24 hours. In Milton, activists also pushed for a BLM street mural, but the city council rejected the idea and instead approved an anti‑racism art cube downtown. Together, those episodes underscored the contentious politics of public space in Northwest Florida.
A state directive, and a broader push to preempt
The Pensacola directive arrived as FDOT undertakes a broader effort in 2025 to remove political or social messages painted on public streets, including rainbow crosswalks and other themed pavement markings in cities across Florida. The agency has cited uniform traffic‑control standards — including the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, FDOT’s Design Manual and the Florida Greenbook — which it says apply to all public roads without exception. In its Aug. 21 letter, FDOT pointed to those standards in declaring Pensacola’s mural a violation and warning of funding consequences if it remained.
The action fits a broader trend in Tallahassee. In recent years, the Legislature and governor have increasingly preempted local governments on matters ranging from housing and tenant protections to environmental rules and even pandemic orders. By asserting authority over markings on city streets, FDOT has extended that preemption into the realm of public art.
That posture is visible in Pensacola on other fronts. The Florida Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is conducting a sweeping review of City Hall, examining spending, hiring and program compliance across departments. While the audit is broad, one focus is whether city programs align with new state restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — a particularly relevant area given the debates surrounding the A Street mural.
What Reeves said Tuesday
At his weekly press conference, Reeves emphasized cooperation with FDOT.
“We've said we will comply," he said. "We would like their help in terms of being able to execute it.”On public sentiment, he noted the city’s divided politics.
“The city of Pensacola, you know, politically speaking is a 50-50 city," he said. "... For this mural, there's folks that are certainly passionate about the what and why behind it, and there's folks that are passionate about whether it exists or not. And if the political message were to be something different, I imagine you'd see an exact inverse. So what is the role of the city of Pensacola? The role of the city of Pensacola is to follow federal and state law and to not be necessarily picking sides.”Asked his personal opinion, Reeves demurred further.
“I really don't have any," he said. "... It is not very high on our priority list to be getting into lots of political discussions at the end of the day. I feel like my job as mayor is to keep everybody safe, the 55,000 people who live here and the hundreds of thousands who visit here. And most of the bandwidth in my brain is dedicated to this.”