Naming Fairfax City Streets

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This consultation has concluded.

On July 12, 2022, the Fairfax City Council voted to change 14 street names as recommended by the Connecting Fairfax City for All Stakeholder Advisory Group. Thousands of names were received via a public survey. The names have been reviewed, and the subcommittee has provided Council with names for consideration. Council will vote on new names at its Nov. 29 meeting.

Residents are encouraged to weigh in on the proposed names, or suggest others, until 5 p.m. Nov. 28. Please use the comments tool below, or send email to streetnames@fairfaxva.gov.

Name changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2023. Info: email, 703-385-7800.

CURRENT NAMES

NEW NAMES, Effective Jan. 1, 2023

Confederate Lane

Continental Lane

Lee Highway

Fairfax Boulevard (from Kamp Washington east to Fairfax Circle as highlighted in blue on the Proposed Street Layout map, below)

Main Street (from Kamp Washington west to the city boundary line prior to the intersection with Shirley Gate Road, as highlighted in red on the Proposed Street Layout map, below)

Blenheim Boulevard (from Fairfax Circle north to the city boundary line prior to the intersection with Blake Lane, as highlighted in purple on the Proposed Street Layout map, below)

Lee Street

Lilac Street

Mosby Road

Orchard Court (the 10000 block, which connects to Orchard Drive, as highlighted in green on the full-color map, below)

Grefe Drive (the 9000 block, which connects with Burke Station Parkway, as highlighted in blue on the full-color map, below)

Mosby Woods Drive

Fair Woods Drive

Old Lee Highway

Blenheim Boulevard (highlighted in purple on the Proposed Street Layout map, below)

Plantation Parkway

Fair Woods Parkway

Raider Lane

Fox Lane

Ranger Road

Cardinal Road

Reb Street

Cross Lane

Scarlet Circle

Crimson Circle

Singleton Circle

Concord Circle

Stonewall Avenue

Stone Wall Avenue

Traveler Street

Old Robin Street


For background on the Connecting Fairfax City for All initiative, please visit the archived project page.

On July 12, 2022, the Fairfax City Council voted to change 14 street names as recommended by the Connecting Fairfax City for All Stakeholder Advisory Group. Thousands of names were received via a public survey. The names have been reviewed, and the subcommittee has provided Council with names for consideration. Council will vote on new names at its Nov. 29 meeting.

Residents are encouraged to weigh in on the proposed names, or suggest others, until 5 p.m. Nov. 28. Please use the comments tool below, or send email to streetnames@fairfaxva.gov.

Name changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2023. Info: email, 703-385-7800.

CURRENT NAMES

NEW NAMES, Effective Jan. 1, 2023

Confederate Lane

Continental Lane

Lee Highway

Fairfax Boulevard (from Kamp Washington east to Fairfax Circle as highlighted in blue on the Proposed Street Layout map, below)

Main Street (from Kamp Washington west to the city boundary line prior to the intersection with Shirley Gate Road, as highlighted in red on the Proposed Street Layout map, below)

Blenheim Boulevard (from Fairfax Circle north to the city boundary line prior to the intersection with Blake Lane, as highlighted in purple on the Proposed Street Layout map, below)

Lee Street

Lilac Street

Mosby Road

Orchard Court (the 10000 block, which connects to Orchard Drive, as highlighted in green on the full-color map, below)

Grefe Drive (the 9000 block, which connects with Burke Station Parkway, as highlighted in blue on the full-color map, below)

Mosby Woods Drive

Fair Woods Drive

Old Lee Highway

Blenheim Boulevard (highlighted in purple on the Proposed Street Layout map, below)

Plantation Parkway

Fair Woods Parkway

Raider Lane

Fox Lane

Ranger Road

Cardinal Road

Reb Street

Cross Lane

Scarlet Circle

Crimson Circle

Singleton Circle

Concord Circle

Stonewall Avenue

Stone Wall Avenue

Traveler Street

Old Robin Street


For background on the Connecting Fairfax City for All initiative, please visit the archived project page.

Comments on Proposed Street Names

Share your thoughts on the proposed street names, or suggest others, until 5 p.m. Nov. 28. Council will vote on new names at its Nov. 29 meeting.

This consultation has concluded.

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With these new names now officially voted for per https://www.fairfaxva.gov/Home/Components/News/News/12183/18 can we expect any correspondences and timeline here? I see the news page I listed above mentions notifications will be sent out to residents who own property, but it could be helpful to still have some sort of website with applicable information, updates, and timeline. I'm particularly surprised to see "Name changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2023", I would have thought it would have taken longer than that. I will be interested to learn what exactly that means from a practical standpoint.

wfranz over 1 year ago

Bluebell would be a great choice for Plantation. I live on Plantation. I'm ok with Parkway or Drive since the Parkway designation is a bit odd on a what is essentially a dead end street.

MKC over 1 year ago

Thank you for the chance to comment. I agree with the suggestion of celebrating Virginia nature through street names. It's hard to go wrong with celebrating nature, and our great state has it in abundance!

I particularly like Blue Ridge Highway (Old Lee Highway) and Bluebell Parkway (Plantation Pkwy). The Blue Ridge Parkway is a national treasure and I like the idea of invoking that fun drive here in our community. Bluebells are a beautiful plant and would reflect well on the neighborhood. Alternatively, we could go with a tree theme like Magnolia Woods Parkway or Maple Woods Parkway (to keep the MW initial.) Lastly, I like replacing Reb street with Robin or Finch Street. Both are fun scrappy birds and the names are short to boot! There are so many different types of birds, trees and other Virginia wild life we could celebrate. Nature themes are neutral and inclusive to all in the community.

Ryan over 1 year ago

Given that the streets are being re-named because of connections to the Confederacy and the Civil War, I think Union, Continental, Appomattox, and Beecher (for Harriet Beecher Stowe? I think we should stay away from people names altogether) should all be disqualified. Some proposed names are just silly or strange, like Square Circle, Rock Wall Road, Grefe Drive. Some are contextually odd, like Cincinnati Street. Some, like Ranger to Rambler and Scarlet to Crimson, seem like the similarity to the original name will cause more trouble during a process that is likely to be inconvenient at best. Blenheim Boulevard sounds like it belongs in a Disney village. I don't think "Blenheim" is unreasonably hard to say or spell, but Blenheim Avenue or Blenheim Road is a lot less goofy. But I'm also not sure that Blenheim deserves a street name, so something more generic like "Blue Ridge Highway" is also nice.

And since all the Mosby Woods street names are currently united by a "theme", I think sticking with a theme of trees/birds/plants is the most reasonable option. Plantation Parkway could be something like Commonwealth Rd/Ave/Dr and all the proposed names could come from iconic state wildlife.

I do hope that the council will refine the proposed names and then re-submit for commentary before officially changing everything. We are the ones who live here; if the names of streets are important enough to change, then it is equally important to make sure that the new names are reasonably embraced. You can't please everyone, obviously, but there's not a lot of positive feedback on the current names. Take the time to do it right.

fairfax88 over 1 year ago

To reflect Fairfax City's virtue signaling, these should be the new street names:
Confederate Lane should be named Presentism Lane
Mosby Woods Drive should be named Fahrenheit 451 Drive
Plantation Parkway should be named John Galt Parkway
Raider Lane should be named Doublespeak Lane
Ranger Road should be named Thoughtcrime Road
Reb Street should be named Cancel History Street
Scarlet Circle should be named Alternative Facts Circle
Singleton Circle should be named Room 101 Circle
Traveler Street should be named Banned History Street
Lee Street should be named Animal Farm Street
Mosby Road should be named 1984 Road
Stonewall Avenue should be named George Orwell Avenue
Old Lee Highway should be named Big Brother Highway
Lee Highway should be named Erased History Highway

These new street names should last a couple of years until the next faux populist outrage erases them. It has become the fashionable thing to do.

pokytoky54 over 1 year ago

Thank you for the opportunity to comment. I think MKC's suggestion of birds, plants, or animals for the streets of Mosby Woods is a good one. Public safety agencies and professional drivers will appreciate the mnemonic assistance that comes from a consistent theme. Alternatively, consider colors, opera characters, baseball-team names, or the nine Olympian muses of mythology.

I agree that it is a good idea to rename Old Lee Highway, and some additional history might be helpful: According to the City's official history book, the Blenheim house was built in 1856 for Albert Willcoxon, whose father Rezin owned the tavern across from the Fairfax Courthouse. Its historical significance lies not as a home to enslaved people or Confederate traitors, but in its use as a field hospital by the Union army during the Civil War, and as a repository of graffiti left by Union soldiers who occupied the house during the war. That is why the City spent substantial taxpayer funds to buy, restore, preserve and curate the site and to construct the Civil War Interpretive Center.

Blenheim was a battle fought three centuries ago in and about the Bavarian town of Blindheim, and won by the Duke of Marlborough. Blenheim Palace is a country estate in England, built for Marlborough in gratitude for his victory. (It was, parenthetically, the birthplace of his descendent, Winston Churchill.) But there apparently was no person named Blenheim, at least none associated with the house during the ten or so years before slavery was abolished. According to Wikipedia, the earliest known reference to the Willcoxon house as "Blenheim" was in 1903. So the name "Blenheim" evidently doesn't have anything to do with slavery or secessionists.

There may be other names for Old Lee Highway as good as or better than "Blenheim Boulevard." It does not make sense, though, to reject the name based on a misapprehension of the historical facts. Not only is Blenheim not named after a person associated with secession, it is probably not named after any person. It is associated more than anything else with the City's recognition of the importance of history and historic preservation.

Whatever new name is chosen for Old Lee Highway, I suggest the suffix should be "Boulevard," in keeping with the planned improvements to the road, recognizing the primacy of safe and comfortable pedestrian passage. (A highway or avenue connotes efficient movement of vehicles, sometimes in detriment to the pedestrian experience, which would be inconsistent with the planned improvements.) "Street" would also work.

If "Blenheim Boulevard" is too much of a mouthful, I suggest as alternative new names for Old Lee Highway: Willard Boulevard (Joseph Willard was the son of a Union officer and benefactor of the City, as well as ambassador to Spain), Providence Boulevard, High Street, or Ridge Boulevard.

Thank you again for the opportunity to comment.

Mark Towery over 1 year ago

I like the idea of celebrating local/Virginia nature through new street names, with an additional theme of American icons/values to keep the cohesiveness in the Mosby Woods neighborhood where many Civil War related street names remain.

My suggestions are as follows:
*Streets in Mosby Woods:

- Confederate Lane 

--> Cardinal Lane (Virginia's state bird)


- Mosby Woods Drive 

--> Merriwoods Drive (to keep "MW"),

--> Little Woods Drive, or

--> Forest Drive


- Plantation Parkway 

--> Bald Eagle Parkway, or

--> Bluebell Parkway (for a native plant Virginia Bluebells)


- Raider Lane 

--> Patriot Lane, or 

--> Creek Lane (the street is right by the creek where many wild animals reside)


- Ranger Road 

--> Rambler Road (I like this suggested name a lot - the street stretches throughout the neighborhood like a perfect rambling road and many residents enjoy walks along the street)


- Reb Street 

--> Cross Lane (this suggested name is rather plain but I think it is fitting to describe this short road that connects two streets), 

--> Finch Street, or

--> Robin Street (these are native birds that reside in our neighborhood; short names too!)


- Scarlet Circle 

--> Liberty Cicle,

--> Beech Circle (for a native tree American Beech), or

--> Starling Circle (a native bird species that lives in the neighborhood and to keep "S")


- Singleton Circle 

--> Unity Circle,

--> Poplar Circle (for a native tree Tulip Poplar), or 

--> Swallowtail Circle (for Virginia's state insect Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly and to keep "S")


- Traveler Street 

--> Dogwood Street (Virginia's state flower/tree)

Mako over 1 year ago

I am a Mosby Woods resident and very glad and thankful that the city council is making progress forward on this renaming project in a timely manner.



I like the idea of celebrating local/Virginia nature and features through new street names - this way, residents and visitors are naturally encouraged to admire the beauty of the surrounding nature (and they are neutral and more pleasant!). American icons/values may be an additional theme to keep the cohesiveness in the Mosby Woods neighborhood where many Civil War related street names remain.



My suggestions are as follows:



- Old Lee Highway 


--> Blue Ridge Highway (for such a long stretch of a road, something beautiful and local like Blue Ridge would be perfect; easy spelling and good name for any homes/businesses)



- Stonewall Avenue 


--> Shenandoah Avenue (for a local nature theme and to keep "S")



- Lee Highway 


--> Fairfax Boulevard (the suggested name seems fine to me to keep the currently used name for a stretch of the road)



- Lee Street 


--> Lilac Street (I am fine with this suggested name with a nature theme), 


--> Maple Street (if a native tree is preferred over foreign species), or


--> Bluebird Street (for a native bird)



- Mosby Road 


--> Magnolia Road (for a native tree and to keep "M"), or


--> Orchard Drive (this suggested name is also just fine to me)

Mako over 1 year ago

As noted at the 15 November 2022,
Three streets in Mosby Woods currently have names that are Ubiquitous, meaning the words are present, appearing, or found everywhere.
* Ranger
* Raider
* Traveler - (not Traveller, the horse)

There has been multiple requests to keep these streets names, as they do not refer, specifically, to the Civil War.

Furklp over 1 year ago

With the county just renaming Lee Highway to it's route number 29 it would be prudent to do as well. It would reduce confusion.

Blenheim Boulevard is a mouthful & difficult to spell, not to mention the alteration is strange.

Fair Woods Parkway & Fair Woods Drive are too similar of names, leading to confusion.

Union Lane feels still too Civil War inspired

Many of the Mosby Woods options feel uninspired & generic. I agree with others seeking names of Plants/Animals/Natural Features.

We don't want to regret the renaming of any of these streets, it's fine if we take time to make sure we do it right.

Hikaruchu over 1 year ago

I prefer Stonewall Avenue to be changed to Stone Wall Avenue not Rock Wall Road. It will make it easier for our mail to be delivered without interruption. How can you change an avenue to a road?

MSJEB over 1 year ago

I live on Ranger Rd and find the recommendation of change to Rambler Rd fine. Our street did not come together as a community to put forward this idea (at least not involving my household!) but, for us, it works and I hope it feels okay for my neighbors. We're also open to other ideas if that's what's preferred.

I think the suggested new names for Plantation Parkway are lacking. They feel generic in Fairfax in a way that I think they will be hard to remember and differentiate. For sure the Fair Woods options is too similar to the condo's proposed road name of Fair Wood Drive. (I am constantly confused by roads in Fair Oaks that all begin with Fair.) I also think this is a great opportunity to move away from Parkway. My recommendations for Plantatain's new name are: Proclamation Dr, Community Dr, or Generation Dr.

Introducing the name Continental for Confederate seems weird, dipping into Revolutionary War history in a neighborhood of Civil War names. If people find Confederate's rename to Union to be problematic, I reassert the idea of American.

Two other Civil War themed names I have previously offered but still feel like helpful ideas for any problematic rename efforts are Treasury and Telegraph. Both are pieces of Civil War era history.

Lee Highway being changed to Main Street sounds super confusing. Does that mean 50 and 263 would both be Main Street?

Thank you to Council for pressing forward and getting these needed street name changes done.

amc over 1 year ago

As a resident who must always spell out my long and not easily spelled or pronounced street name, I'd suggest rethinking Blenheim Boulevard! My street name appears in my neighborhood as both "Drive" and "Circle". So, I'd also suggest reconsidering Fair Woods Drive and Fair Woods Parkway as well. Street names have a life beyond a list, where they might seem ok. But mail delivery, directions and the like benefit from clear, easy to spell, easy to pronounce names. "Union" has past connotations and "Grefe" (is that pronounced like grief?) are also, I believe not good choices for the long term. Finally, "Main Street" for Lee Highway. We already have a Main Street, don't we? That portion of 236 that runs through the downtown? Thanks for the opportunity to comment!

DECORSI over 1 year ago

It is obvious the Council has already made up their minds and could care less about what its constituents want. A petition was circulated on our street. While our residents were divided in opinion whether or not the name change should occur at all, it was nearly unanimous if the change were to occur, we would be accepting of changing our street name from Stonewall to Stone Wall. Is there any point to responding to these surveys if the majority's opinions are completely disregarded by the City? I feel like I'm wasting my time.

Diane B. over 1 year ago

As a Ranger Road resident, it would be great to be more explicitly connected to the other forest/flower/animal themed streets in the surrounding area.
Some ideas:
Robin Rd.
Rain Tree Rd.
Maple Trail
Maple Dr.
Wood Stream Rd.

Thanks for the consideration!

Hsaffoori over 1 year ago

Please do NOT rename Plantation Parkway "Fair Woods Parkway" and Mosby Woods Drive "Fair Woods Drive"! The names are just too similar and invite Postal Service delivery problems. I favor renaming Mosby Woods Drive "Fair Woods Drive" and Plantation Parkway "Fairfax Forest Drive".

Cheryl M over 1 year ago

I don’t like Main Street or Fairfax Boulevard instead of Lee Highway. I propose Sunset Highway, because twice a year there are several weeks where the sun seems to set directly due west of the highway.

Greg over 1 year ago

I agree that Blenheim Boulevard is a mouthful. Wasn't Providence the original name for the town, in 1805? What about Providence highway or Providence Boulevard for a name that reaches back in history

Jay over 1 year ago

Old Lee Hwy should be renamed Great Oaks Lane to encapsulate our reputation to be the City of Oaks.

Tbbolton over 1 year ago

Wfranz, I agree with your comments. I think we need to get away from anything Civil War related. Wfranz I like this idea of yours"d rather something simpler and more general related to birds, animals, plants, or other features that evoke a sense of our location. " I had suggested Virginia native plant names. I live on Plantation and I'm happy to see it go , but Fair Woods Parkway or Fairfax Forest Drive are just ick. Fair and Fairfax are used to much in the city and county.

MKC over 1 year ago