San Francisco, California – First, it painted its bike lanes in green, then its MUNI train tracks in red.  Now, the City and County of San Francisco has entered into a multi-million contract with Sherwin-Williams, the third largest paint company in the world, for a total make-over of its thousands of pedestrian lanes.  San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and the County Board of Supervisors have jointly approved the project which is expected to start in September with a completion date slated sometime in January of next year.   The painting project will be implemented in several phases, starting with the entire stretch of Market Street – from Castro to the Embarcadero.  Lee and the gay members of the board of supervisors will participate in a ceremonial painting of the first crosswalk on Market and Castro Streets at 9am on September 1st.

Unlike the boring, single color paint used for the bike lanes and MUNI train tracks, the new pedestrian lanes will be painted in a succession of the rainbow colors: ROYGBV ROYGBIV ROYGBIV and so on.

While admitting that the cost of the project will be a burden to the city’s coffers, the mayor and supervisors assured the public that the return on investment will be three-fold.  It will also seal San Francisco’s reputation as the “Gayest City in the World.”