A mile-long purple line stretches along Northwest Eighth Avenue in Gainesville to remind passersby of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The purple curb represents that life may be taken away, a nod to the purple hearts soldiers receive after they have been injured or killed in war.
Now that curb, dubbed Memorial Mile, may be removed. The Florida Department of Transportation ordered in late June that all pavement art not used for traffic control be taken out or painted over. FDOT is in contact with the city of Gainesville over whether to remove the Memorial Mile.
In August, a similar ordinance enforced by FDOT demanded the city remove the three rainbow crosswalks or lose transportation funding. Eventually, on Aug. 25, Gainesville complied despite the mayor’s chagrin…