ATLANTA — LGBT Pride Month ended Friday, but Atlanta crews are working this weekend on a project that will symbolize support for the local LGBTQ community year-round.
The intersection of Piedmont Avenue and 10th Street is closed for the installation of permanent rainbow crosswalks, WSB-TV reported.
Shortly thereafter, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed commemorated the anniversary of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando by announcing that the rainbow crosswalks would become a permanent fixture in Midtown.
The intersection is scheduled to reopen Monday.
<b>RELATED: <a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/kasim-reed-says-rainbow-crosswalks-will-permanent-midtown/Aa4hjPbashIf1vtUVgILaK/" target="_self">Kasim Reed says rainbow crosswalks will be permanent in Midtown</a></b>
Earlier this year, more than 20,000 people, including Atlanta mayoral candidate Ceasar Mitchell, signed a petition in support of the rainbow crosswalks.
]]>
The crosswalks first appeared during Pride festivities in 2015.
“I knew Atlanta being in the deep South and having a history of such divisions needed these crosswalks as symbols of acceptance, tolerance and the diversity of the LGBTQ community and its allies,” said Robert Sepulveda Jr., a former Atlanta resident who was involved with raising funds and installing the rainbow crosswalks in 2015.
Channel 2's Rikki Klaus reports.