Artist channels Joseph Howe in protest over removal of 3D crosswalk

The man who was behind a 3D crosswalk project in Dartmouth, N.S.,took his chalk to Grand Parade in front ofHalifax City Hall Wednesday afternoon to protest the city's decision to remove his art.

Artist Doug Carleton spent several weeks using black paint to create a 3D effect around a crosswalk at the corner of Erskine and Elliott streets to improve pedestrian safety, but the city's traffic authority had workers use acid to remove his paint job.

"It was free.What the heck is wrong with these people?" said Carleton.

To protest the removal of his work, Carleton used chalk to write aJoseph Howe quote: "They have shrunk from inquiry, though they have strained after punishment. I have in every shape dared the one, that I might, so far as lay in my power, be able to secure the other."

Carleton said the traffic authority should be more flexible.

"I don't want to see anybody fired, I would just prefer this guy [to] stop being so stubborn about something that everybody would love," said Carleton.

While Carleton was writing his Grand Parade quote, he was visited by a couple of councillors.

Carleton said he thinks the Motor Vehicle Act should be amended to allow local communities more authority over some crosswalks.