Stratford Rainbow Crosswalk

In fall 2021, Stratford-Perth Pride and Kelly Ballantyne of Sirkel Foods collaborated to bring a rainbow crosswalk to downtown Stratford – the first in Perth County. This crosswalk would not have been possible without the generosity of Magest Building Systems Limited on behalf of Attwell & Ewan Martin. This project was also only possible thanks to Jessica Elliott and Rachael Burton of Powerhouse Painting and John Henwood of Fresh it Up Painting who donated their time and created this piece of art in beautiful downtown Stratford.

However, due to a variety of circumstances including (but limited to): the design of the crosswalk, the high frequency of snow plowing and salting, damage from graffiti and other possible reasons, the crosswalk pieces have peeled away. After consultation with the material supplier, the installation contractor and the City of Stratford, it has been determined that the crosswalk requires a full replacement.

Stratford-Perth Pride and Kelly Ballantyne of Sirkel Foods are launching a fundraising campaign to replace the crosswalk. We’ve heard from both the LGBTQ2S+ community and the greater Stratford community about the importance of a rainbow crosswalk facing city hall, and together we will fundraise to install a new crosswalk.

As mentioned, one of the challenges of the current crosswalk is the elaborate design of the Progress Flag. The crosswalk is made from a material called Thermoplastic which is a melted plastic coating on the pavement. The design of the pride progress flag offers no space of bare pavement between the colours, meaning that a small lift in one area can more easily grow across the entire crosswalk. To help ensure the material fully adheres to the road, the design of the new rainbow crosswalk will be a ‘ladder’ style (see image on next page). This is a common style of rainbow crosswalks in other communities.

An additional benefit of this design is that if the crosswalk becomes damaged in the future only the coloured strip(es) damaged will need replacing versus a complete crosswalk replacement. The new design will continue to honour the representation of the progress flag. It will include the colours of the six-stripe Pride flag (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple), a pink, and light blue stripe representing the trans community, and a black and brown stripe representing queer people of colour.

White road paint will be placed at each end as well as the sides of the crosswalk for visual safety.

The estimated cost of the crosswalk for the materials and equipment rental is approximately $7,000. The cost of labour installation is generously provided by Powerhouse Painting.

Stratford-Perth Pride and Kelly Ballantyne of Sirkel Foods have a fundraising goal of $7,000 to ensure Stratford’s visual LGBTQ2S+ representation is front and centre at the heart of our downtown.

Donations can be etransfered to stratfordrainbow@gmail.com
(funds will be automatically accepted).

Donations can also be dropped off to Sirkel Foods (40 Wellington St, Stratford) or mailed to Stratford-Perth Pride (see contact us page). 

Stratford-Perth Pride and Kelly Ballantyne of Sirkel Foods would like recognize the generosity of the following businesses, organizations and individuals.  

An Anonymous Organization