Five years after she received a call in the "dead of night" to say bulldozers were ripping up Sydney's rainbow pedestrian crossing, the city's Lord Mayor Clover Moore has announced it will be reinstated.
The crossing is slated for the suitably-shaped bend between Campbell and Bourke streets in Surry Hills.
The intersection is a stone's throw from the original Oxford Street crossing, removed in 2013 on the orders of then-roads minister Duncan Gay who noted the City of Sydney's own safety audit recorded 17 "incidents" in a month.
Mr Gay argued at the time CCTV cameras had captured people sitting and lying on the crossing while also taking photos, which "set off alarm bells" at the high risk of injuries and fatalities.
Ms Moore and Sydney MP Alex Greenwich announced the colourful crossing's return on Thursday.
The lord mayor said its removal - after it was installed as a temporary feature for the 2013 Mardi Gras - was "quite shattering" given 16,000 people had signed a petition in support of making it permanent.
"After we installed our rainbow crossing here, the whole idea took off in the suburbs, children were doing them on footpaths," Ms Moore said.
"(But) I got a call late at night, as did Alex, to say there were bulldozers up here removing it two months later."
The lord mayor said the new, signalised junction will "put pedestrians first" ahead of vehicles.
"I will take this proposal to council on Monday night for endorsement which I'm sure I will get because it was unanimously supported last time around."
The six-colour crossing will be reviewed after six months by NSW Roads and Maritime Services and will remain a permanent fixture in the city's LGBTQI hub if it's deemed safe.
A three-month construction program will begin in October.
A colourful, inflatable temporary artwork will be unveiled on Sunday to mark the 40th anniversary of Mardi Gras.
Australian Associated Press
