As part of the Oak Lawn entertainment district beautification project, markers have been installed at either end of the Cedar Springs strip. One marker was installed several weeks ago at the corner of Cedar Springs Road and Wycliff Avenue in front of Kroger. Another was put in place on Oak Lawn Avenue on Friday.

The recently installed marker is set on the center median between the Oak Lawn monument and The Centrum. The words “Oak Lawn” are set on top of rainbow-colored pillars. The rainbow includes the recent update to the Pride flag that adds black and brown to the six traditional colors. The two new colors embrace LGBTQ people of color as vital members of the community.

The markers were paid for with city bond money just as those that mark the neighboring Design District and Oak Lawn’s Uptown neighborhood were. A new traffic light on Cedar Springs at Cedar Springs Road and Knight Street as well as new landscaping were also included in the bond funding. To qualify for bond money, the improvement must have an expected life of at least 20 years. The 10 rainbow crosswalks on Cedar Springs Road were privately funded because crosswalks must be repainted more frequently than every 20 years.

— David Taffet