Why did parts of Midtown Atlanta's $196K rainbow crosswalk disappear?

Just nine months after Atlanta spent 196-thousand dollars to install this rainbow crosswalk, it already needs repairs.

The permanent rainbow crosswalks installed last year at 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue in Midtown were partially removed this week.

AT&T crews performed utility work on the road, and parts of the crosswalk were paved over Tuesday, city spokeswoman Anne Torres confirmed Friday.

The mid-2017 installation of the rainbow crosswalk cost $196,000, with funds coming from the city's $44 million or so transportation budget. City officials said they would ask AT&T to cover the cost of restoring it, but Torres said the city didn't have a cost estimate available Friday.

AT&T spokesman Lance Skelly said the company has completed its work to upgrade service in the area. Once the pavement cures, he said in an email, “we will restore the crosswalk as quickly as possible.”

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Torres said the crosswalk — which was given a life expectancy of 10 years at the time of installation — will be repainted in the next 30 to 45 days.

Until then, residents who don’t know what happened may be surprised when they see the incomplete crosswalks.

Neighbor Lloyd Dinwiddie told Channel 2 Action News that he doesn't understand why part of the colorful walkway is missing.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me, but it did also kind of strike me as odd walking up and passing it,” he said.

The Midtown intersection is known as a hub for the LGBTQ community.

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