مسار قوس قزح في توركو قصير العمر عندما أمرت الشرطة بإزالته

The city of Turku announced on Wednesday that it would remove the rainbow-colored pavement that had been painted a day earlier at the city’s intersection at the request of the police.

When the colorful shelter was painted on Tuesday, the city said it wanted a message of openness, tolerance and equality, as well as support for the LGBTQ community during Pride Month in June.

The short-term effort was led by the Turku City Theater at the intersection.

However, only a day later, the city received an email from the police station stating that covering the intersection was against the country’s road traffic law.

"The city will monitor the police agency’s position on the matter and remove the paint as soon as possible and restore the white lines marking the protected crossing. A working order to remove and repaint it has already been issued," the city said in a statement.

Crossing the rainbow received a lot of attention

The city had interpreted the Road Traffic Act differently than the Police Board. When Turku announced a rainbow on Tuesday, the city’s communications director said pedestrian traffic signs were adequate and that the intersection could still be used normally.

On wednesday Matti Salonen, the city ‘s traffic planning manager said the city did not consider the painting illegal.

"According to a rule defined by law, a protected intersection may be indicated by road signs or road painting, or both. When the rainbow was to be painted, the city did not consider it a traffic-related device. The corresponding road paint not mentioned in the law are red bike lanes, green paint indicating charging points for electric vehicles and the blue color sometimes used for parking disabled people," Salonen said.

The painted intersection received a broad positive and negative response on social media.

المصدر الصفحة الشمالية