By Sam Borsato - @BorsatoSam on Twitter

Rainbow, transgender crosswalks postponed again; council voices concerns

Apr 24, 2017 | 7:05 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Whether or not rainbow or transgender flag crosswalks will be a permanent fixture in Lethbridge is still unknown.
 
Linda McFalls, sponsor chair of the Lethbridge Pride Fest Society, and Corbin Chenger, vice-chair, originally requested on April 10 that two crossings, at the 3 Avenue and 6 Street South intersection, be permanently painted in support of the LGBT+ community. They proposed that one be the traditional rainbow flag, while the other represent the transgender flag with pink, blue and white stripes.
 
Quotes from Lafrentz Road Marking estimate that it could cost more than $13,000 to paint both, or just shy of $18,000 to inlay the two colour schemes. As part of the original resolution, that funding would come from council contingencies.
 
But it was noted by City of Lethbridge administration that a 3 Avenue South reconstruction project is being proposed for the next ten year Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The $9.7-million project could include widening sidewalks, planting trees, adding parking spaces, upgrading underground utilities and other street surface landscaping between 4 and 8 Street.
 
The issue was on the table once again Monday (Apr. 24) afternoon, with the three following recommendations from Jeff Greene, director of planning and development:
 
– The city paints two temporary crosswalks for 2017 — one with the rainbow flag, the other with the transgender flag — at the intersection of 3 Avenue and 6 Street South;
 
– If the 3 Avenue reconstruction is approved in the 2018-2027 CIP, that two permanent crosswalks be included in the design at the intersection of 3 Avenue and 7 Street South;
 
– If the 3 Avenue reconstruction is not approved, that two permanent crosswalks be placed at the intersection of 3 Avenue and 6 Street South.
 
Several amendments were made to that resolution, stemming from council member concerns about whether the transgender flag should be singled out, if funding should come from the City and how council determines what organizations should pay if one would like to paint a crosswalk in the future.
 
Councillor Jeff Coffman suggested that with all of the changes, the resolution had “moved away” from the original intent of the Lethbridge Pride Fest Society request. He then made a motion to postpone the decision for another two weeks, which was approved by council as a whole.
 
Coffman told Lethbridge News Now what will happen from now until the matter comes back to council on May 8.
 
“I’ll solicit feedback from my colleagues and find out where everybody is sitting in terms of what they’re proposing for amendments… I may propose something completely different, and try to break the request into a couple of different resolutions in order to deal with the pieces individually.”
 
He added that there are several complex pieces to the crosswalks project that need to come together cohesively before council can make a final decision, and they will deal with the matter in an appropriate manner.