Oxford Street's rainbow pride
Rainbow crossing at Taylor Square, Oxford Street

Oxford St will get a rainbow coloured pedestrian crossing at Taylor Square – just in time for Mardi Gras.

It  will definitely be a case of Somewhere Over the Rainbow at Mardi Gras 2013  when the pedestrian crossing at Oxford St, Taylor Square is painted in rainbow hues.

The planned rainbow coloured crossing will be one of two on Oxford St (the other is at Whitlam Square) aimed to recognise the areas cultural heritage as a gay precinct.

The crossings will cost $75000 to paint and were voted in unanimously by the City of Sydney Council on Monday night.. The move, proposed by the lord mayor, Clover Moore, is modeled on a similar initiative in West Hollywood this year.

While the council has given the go ahead, the crossings will still need approval from the Roads and Traffic Authority to go ahead. A risk evaluation will be carried out to assess the impact.

According to comments  in the SMH from Lord Mayor Clover Moore, the crossings will be installed on a trial basis, which, if successful, could become a “permanent, visual acknowledgement of the significance of Oxford Street to the [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender] community”.