Lubbock Will Remove Buddy Holly-Themed Crosswalk After Federal Crackdown

A Trump administration directive targeting political road markings has left places like Lubbock, Texas, helpless to challenge broad new policies.

The four giant pairs of glasses are simple and striking: rendered in the crosswalks of an intersection in Lubbock, Texas, in white paint, tidy inside the bounds of the crossing lines. For years, they’ve been a beloved part of the city’s quirky downtown, a testament to its native son, the rock ‘n’ roller Buddy Holly.

Are they road murals? Are they public art? Or are they a safety hazard?

Whatever they are, the streetbound specs are now verboten, a casualty of the Trump administration’s crackdown on artistic displays on the nation’s roadways.

“Anything on the roadway would have to be eliminated,” David Bragg, Lubbock’s interim director of public works, said at a City Council meeting last week. “We were put in a situation where we had to either remove these crosswalks or send them a plan for removal.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/us/buddy-holly-crosswalk-texas.html