On a cool, slightly overcast spring day, Port Moody got its rainbow. Crosswalk that is.
City crews painted the brightly coloured crossing that has become a symbol of gay pride, support and acceptance at the western entrance to Newport Village early Friday and by midday it was already attracting cellphone photographers adding to their Instagram feeds.
“I don’t live here, but I’m sending this photo to my daughter,” said one.
“This just makes me smile,” said an elderly woman before she rolled across the crossing astride her motorized scooter.
The crosswalk is the realization of an effort that was initiated in July, 2017, by the group, Creating LGBT + Community in Port Moody, when they made their pitch for such a rainbow to city council. They wanted it on Murray Street, connecting Brewer’s Row and Rocky Point Park.
But that November, council decided to locate it in Newport Village, prompted by uncertainty over timelines for various construction projects scheduled along the busy thoroughfare, including a new multi-use pathway, new traffic controls and a reconfiguration of the entrances to the parking lot.
The Newport Village site was also going to be about $3,000 cheaper than the estimated $11,000 cost for the Murray Street location because of its shorter length and lesser vehicle traffic which would save on maintenance and the frequency of repainting. The painting could also be integrated as part of already planned work to add permanent curb bulges at the crossing.
In the interim, though, the city of Coquitlam approved and installed its own rainbow crossing near city hall, and earlier this month Port Coquitlam awarded a contract to Maple Ridge artist Steve Baylis for a Pride public art project that will surround the fountain at Leigh Square Community Arts Village, next to city hall.
Lubik, who’s now a city councillor in Port Moody, said while the delay was “unfortunate,” the timing for the city’s new crosswalk might be a little more relevant because of it.
“With a lot of the more homophobic rhetoric that we are hearing about across Canada, it’s probably a really good time for a vibrant exclamation of acceptance and support for the LBGBTQ members of the community,” she said, adding she thanked the workers doing the painting as she passed them on her way to work.
The first permanent rainbow crosswalk in Canada was painted in 2013 at the corner of Davie and Bute streets in Vancouver. Similar crossings have since been installed in various cities around the province, including New Westminster, Victoria, Kelowna, Squamish and Maple Ridge.
