Wyn Delano
WMAL.com
ARLINGTON — (WMAL) The effort to rename Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington will most likely not be on the agenda for 2017, according to Virginia State Senator Adam Ebben.
The effort to rename Jefferson Davis Highway to “Richmond Highway” was reignited after a commission impaneled by the Alexandria City Council reccomended that the name be changed in mid-August. In February, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Bourne issued a reccomendation that the city of Alexandria had the right to rename the highway due to a clause in the 1932 city charter that gives city officals the right to “name streets, roads and alleys, except for primary highways.” Route 1 is not classified as a primary highway in Alexandria.
However, in Arlington the renaming effort is a much more complicated and difficult endeavor. Bourne clearly stated that the power that Alexandria has to rename the highway does not apply in Arlington. Jefferson Davis Highway is classified as a primary highway in that area and the county does not have a charter that grants renaming powers. Therefore, the decision is left up to the General Assembly in Richmond, which has been strongly opposed to such ideas in the past.
“We have to weigh how much political capital we want to spend on something that’s not going to pass”, says Sen. Ebben speaking to WMAL. He doesn’t see a path forward for the renaming effort in the 2016 -2017 session, instead calling for a grassroots effort of “chambers of commerce” and “historical societies” to build a consensus around the name change for future sessions. He adds, “We have to give things time in Viriginia, they don’t move as quickly as they should or might.” Sen. Ebben, however, holds open the possibility of taking action sooner if Alexandria moves forward with its renaming proposal.
Delegate Mark Levine (D-45th) has a more direct, if controversial approach to the Deputy Attorney General’s reccomendation – ignore it. An attorney himself, Levin believes that the legal matter is not entirely settled, especially if Arlington decides to rename the highway to one of its traditional alternate names rather than creating an entirely new one. “If they want to change it, the should, and see who says “boo.” Levine said to InsideNova.com.
Yet, unless proposals like Levine’s are heeded, proponents will need to pass a bill in the General Assembly, which is extremely unlikely. And its not just Republcans opposing the measure: Scott Surovell, a Farfax Democrat and one of the most liberal members of the General Assembly told InsideNova.com that there were “not a lot of people clamoring about it except coffee-shop liberals in Arlington.”
There has been no effort to rename Lee Highway as, unlike Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee was an actual resident of Arlington.
Copyright 2016 WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Famartin/Wikimedia)
