2SLGBTQIA+ community acknowledged at Burlington intersections

Symbolic Pride poles have been installed at three Burlington intersections to replace rainbow crosswalks.

The pole wraps have rainbow designs and are meant to acknowledge the city’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

The idea for the poles came about to replace the colourful rainbow coating that had been used to mark the crosswalks. The coating used for the rainbow effect would not bond to the asphalt despite repeated attempts to repair the surface. As well, the rainbow crosswalks had been vandalized several times.

These poles can be found at Upper Middle Road at the M.M. Robinson High School entrance, Fairview Street and Drury Lane, and Plains Road West and Botanical Drive.

The former rainbow crosswalks will be replaced with the standard white ladder design.

One rainbow crosswalk remains at Lakeshore Road at Burlington Avenue.

The original rainbow crosswalks were installed in 2021 at $9,000 each.

Repeated warranty repairs carried out over the past two years on the crosswalks failed and there were fears that other coatings would also not withstand wear and winter weather.

The new pole wraps are supposed to be resistant to graffiti and sticker material.