The process to rename Route 1 in Prince William County began in earnest early this morning.
The Board of County Supervisors voted unanimously just before 2 a.m. to ask Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation to rename Jefferson Davis Highway to Richmond Highway.
A 12-mile stretch of road will be affected along with about 1,000 businesses that are located along the busy thoroughfare between Fairfax and Stafford counties.
The cost to both taxpayers and businesses ranges between $1.2 million and $3.4 million. Businesses will bear the majority of the costs. Being forced to change their addresses, print, and online marketing materials.
A total of 55 highway signs will need to be changed by the county’s transportation department, while the mapping department would work to update county maps, and the county’s business development services department would work to issue updated business licenses.
The renaming process should take about two years, and the project is expected to be funded in the fiscal year 2022 budget. Supervisor Peter Candland was absent from the vote.
Most of U.S. Route 1 in Virginia is named for Jefferson Davis, who was president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. Fredericksburg is also exploring a possible name change for the highway.
Alexandria and Arlington changed the name of the portion of Route 1 that runs through their jurisdictions last year, from Jefferson Davis Highway to Richmond Highway. Fairfax County changed its portion fo the highway’s name to Richmond Highway in 1970.
The road is named Jefferson Davis Highway in Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Caroline counties. Route 1 runs paraele to Interstate 95 in Virginia and streches the east coast from Maine to Key West, Fla.
Supervisor Yesli Vega noted there are at least 70 roads and locations in Prince William County named after historical figures, including George Washington, James Madison, Ronald Regan, and Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee III, for which Leesylvania State Park is named after. She urged the Board of Supervisors to develop criteria for renaming places and infrastructure.
She and other supervisors feared changing the name of Route 1 would lead to calls to change other names of places of historical importance, and other highways.
“I want to make it clear I have no affection for Davis, but as we move forward we need to continue to have dialogue,” said Vega.
“I’m not on a path to support renaming America,” said Neabsco District Supervisor Victor Angry. “We have a past in the county many people aren’t proud of…”
Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin directed the county’s staff to begin exploring the cost of changing the name of the roadway in June, following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd.
