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FRANKFORT, Ky. — A rainbow-colored crosswalk honouring the LGBT community in Lexington, Kentucky, is a distracting safety hazard and should be removed, a federal official says.

Officials painted the crosswalk at a busy intersection across from the county courthouse earlier this year to coincide with an annual gay pride festival. At the time, city officials said the crosswalk would be safer because it would better catch the attention of drivers.

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But Thomas Nelson, the Kentucky division administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, said the crosswalk art distracts drivers because it is designed to “draw the eye” instead of “commanding the attention.” He noted pedestrian deaths jumped 9 per cent in 2016, an increase not all attributed to crosswalks but still an “alarming increase.”

“While we recognize in good faith your crosswalk art was well-intended for your community, we request that you take the necessary steps to remove the non-compliant crosswalk art as soon as it is feasible,” Nelson wrote in a letter to Lexington Mayor Jim Gray.