Stafford County wants to change the name of Route 1, but leaders there would prefer a different name than what Delegate Joshua Cole (D-28, Fredericksburg, Stafford) proposes.
At a meeting of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, December 15, a leaders discussed a Cole’s bill that will introduced into the Virginia General Assembly, which begins on January 13, 2021, that would remove the name of Jefferson Davis from Route 1 and rename the highway after the Loving Family, of Caroline County.
Richard and Mildred Loving were an interracial couple who, in 1967 won a landmark civil rights decision which ruled it unconstitutional for the state to ban interracial marriage. The case and the Loving family themselves were recently the subjects of the film, “Loving” which was released in 2016.
While Stafford Supervisors are onboard with the name change they would prefer to at least offer options for a new name.
“I have no problem changing the name of the highway if the name offends someone,” said Garisonville District Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer.
Currently, the majority of the road in Virginia is named for Davis, the President of the Confederacy. It’s carried the name since 1922, when the Virginia General Assembly in 1922 approved the name.
In Stafford County, much of the road is named after Davis, with the exception to a portion of Route 1 that is Cambridge Street, which runs through Falmouth, a name that’s been around since 1887.
Dudenhefer suggested two options: One that the county could rename the rest of their portion of Route One Cambridge Street or keep that name for the Falmouth area and rename the rest to Richmond Highway.
Richmond Highway was the name chosen when leaders of Alexandria, and Arlington and Prince William chose to rename the portions of Route 1 that run through those respective jurisdictions. In Fairfax County, Route 1 has been dubbed Richmond Highway since the 1970s.
The reason behind keeping the Cambridge name is to not force the 400 residents living on that road to have to change their addresses, said Dudenehfer. But many more would have to change their addresses should the entire roadway be renamed, and that would add up an estimated $1.2 million for the cost for new signage, as well as helping local businesses pay for required changes on marketing and mailing materials.
The revelation of the price tag elicited an audible gasp of shock from members of the board. In June, officials in Prince William County suggested the county set aside $400,000 to give to businesses to help offset cost of new marketing materials that are needed after the name change there.
In Stafford on Tuesday, Supervisors agreed to petition the Commonwealth Transportation Board for permission to to change the name of the highway, and to apply for funding to help with the transition. The county will also send a letter to inform the General Assembly for their application to the Commonwealth Transportation Board and to get ahead of Cole’s upcoming bill.
Stafford’s decision to change the name of Route 1 follows a similar decision in Fredericksburg, where the City Council decided in May to petition the General Assembly to remove the name of its portion of Route 1. The City Council has yet to decide on what to rename its portion of the highway.
