Decorative crosswalks across Dallas are one step closer to going away.

"Seeing them go away is a blow to the community, it's just another way of trying to erase the LGBTQ community," said Tony Vedda, the president and CEO of the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce. "I'm not surprised, you know this has been something that the state has targeted the LGBTQ community on many things, and crosswalks were just the latest."

Recently, the Texas Department of Transportation denied the city's request for an exemption to keep decorative crosswalks, including rainbow crosswalks, a Black Lives Matter crosswalk and other painted street designs.

TxDOT said the crosswalks don't meet the standards for traffic control requirements, which only allow plain white lines. The decision comes just three months after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered cities statewide to remove the crosswalks, citing safety concerns, and threatening to withhold state transportation funding from cities that do not comply.

"There's 30 in Dallas proper; we have 10 of them," said Vedda. "There are decorative crosswalks in the West Village that have been there for years and now everybody is caught up in this. They may have been targeting the LGBTQ community, but it's affecting everybody."

The North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce has helped finance the rainbow crosswalks in Dallas and has been advocating for them since 2019.

In a memo sent to the mayor and city council, the city manager said TxDOT denied the request because it did not include a signed and sealed document from a licensed traffic engineer, but added that "TxDOT did not clarify how our crosswalks impede pedestrian and vehicle safety as requested by our appeal letter."

A city spokesperson said that the city attorney's office is reviewing the decision and will determine whether to appeal the decision. But appeal or not, Vedda feels the battle of the crosswalks may have met its end.

"We aren't just crosswalks," Vedda said. "Crosswalks may go away, but this community is not going anywhere."

CBS News Texas reached out to council members Adam Bazaldua and Paul Ridley, whose districts include decorative crosswalks, but they have not responded.

Regarding the SMU horse brick mural intersection, a spokesperson with the City of University Park said, "After review, we believe all intersections within the city are in compliance with the governor's order."