Streets named for Martin Luther King

[WillWeaverRVA]

There is not an actual street in Richmond, VA named for Martin Luther King Jr., but the VA 33 bridge over I-95 is named for him, and connects downtown Richmond near the VCU Medical Center with Mosby Court, a low-income housing project that is one of the most economically depressed and dangerous parts of the city.

[The Ghostbuster]

There is a Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. here in downtown Madison, that leads eastward from the Capitol Square to Wilson St. I believe it was originally named Monona Ave.

[wolfiefrick]

There exists a Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. in downtown St. Louis, that stretches westward to University City where it becomes MO-180 and then St. Charles Rock Rd. It begins at Tucker Blvd about 1/2 mile southwest of the western end of the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge that carries I-70 across the Mississippi. It's not the nicest part of town to be in, but there are some pockets that are nice and the stretch gets nicer after you get into St. Louis County.

[iowahighways]

Martin Luther King, Jr., Parkway in Des Moines. The original north-south leg was known as Harding Road until 1993. In recent years an east-west segment of MLK has been built as a south bypass of downtown and will eventually connect to US 65 in Pleasant Hill (www.seconnector.com).

[nexus73]

MLK replaced Union on 99E one-way northbound in PDX.   It went through what was once a major black neighborhood which has since gentrified.

Rick

[jwolfer]

In Jacksonville there is a local street called MLK Dr, but in the late 1990s the renamed the 20th St Expressway and Haines St Expressway as MLK Pkwy.. It's us1 and us1 Alt.. There were no businesses on 20th st and the service roads on Haines St Expressway remained Haines St so addresses did not change.

Northwest Jacksonville is predominantly  African-American

[Bruce]

MLK replaced Union on 99E one-way northbound in PDX.   It went through what was once a major black neighborhood which has since gentrified.

Rick

And it, coincidentally, also has rail transit service in the form of the Central Loop Streetcar.

[CapeCodder]

There exists a Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. in downtown St. Louis, that stretches westward to University City where it becomes MO-180 and then St. Charles Rock Rd. It begins at Tucker Blvd about 1/2 mile southwest of the western end of the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge that carries I-70 across the Mississippi. It's not the nicest part of town to be in, but there are some pockets that are nice and the stretch gets nicer after you get into St. Louis County.

Traveled it from end to end. Used to be called Easton Ave.

[Buffaboy]

Apparently there's also an MLK Jr Parkway in downtown Des Moines, IA.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5851763,-93.6107507,14z

Also MLK Way in King County, WA, which is named after MLK (but as jakeroot said, originally William R. King)

[jakeroot]

Also MLK Way in King County, WA, which is named after MLK

MLK Way in Seattle was already mentioned, but I would like to point out that King County was originally named for William R King, Vice President under Franklin Pierce. The county decided in the mid-80s (officially in 2005) to rename the county after MLK (why, I have no idea -- this area has zero connection with MLK).

[GaryV]

MLK in Pontiac, MI goes through a low income area, but you could say that for almost any area of Pontiac.

Detroit has a high school named for Dr. MLK.  The full name of the school is Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Senior High School.

[cpzilliacus]

• In Baltimore, Martin Luther King Boulevard is a true boulevard, relatively speaking newer than most other streets in the city, which serves as a bypass around the west end of the downtown area. It runs from the north end of I-395, past an interchange at U.S. 40 (former I-170) and ends at North Howard Street near a state office complex.
• In the District of Columbia, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue is in the Anacostia area of the Southeast quadrant, formerly known as Nichols Avenue, S.E.  For years, the only government institution along the street was the St. Elizabeth's Hospital for people with psychiatric problems.  More recently, the Department of Homeland Security has taken-over the west side of the St. Elizabeth's campus in the 2700 block for its own consolidated headquarters complex.  Across the street from the DHS complex, the municipal government of the District of Columbia  has its Office of Unified Communications.
• In nearby Prince George's County, Maryland, Maryland Route 704 is named for Rev. King.  It was formerly known as George Palmer Highway, and connects the extreme east corner of D.C. to Md. 202, U.S. 50 (John Hanson Highway) and via U.S. 50 to I-95 (Capital Beltway).

[roadman65]

In Jacksonville there is a local street called MLK Dr, but in the late 1990s the renamed the 20th St Expressway and Haines St Expressway as MLK Pkwy.. It's us1 and us1 Alt.. There were no businesses on 20th st and the service roads on Haines St Expressway remained Haines St so addresses did not change.

Northwest Jacksonville is predominantly  African-American

I have been on US 1 in that part of Jacksonville.   If its not freeway its a limited access at grade expressway.  However, I always thought that calling it a street was not the right descriptor for it anyway, as it hardly resembled a true street.  Calling it a Parkway, yes that better fits it.

[kkt]

MLK Way in Seattle was already mentioned, but I would like to point out that King County was originally named for William R King, Vice President under Franklin Pierce. The county decided in the mid-80s to rename the county after MLK (why, I have no idea -- this area has zero connection with MLK).

This area has zero connection with Vice President King either.

[jakeroot]

MLK Way in Seattle was already mentioned, but I would like to point out that King County was originally named for William R King, Vice President under Franklin Pierce. The county decided in the mid-80s to rename the county after MLK (why, I have no idea -- this area has zero connection with MLK).

This area has zero connection with Vice President King either.

He was VP when the county was created. Everywhere in the country had a connection with King/Pierce for a short while, Pierce alone thereafter.

I would like to correct my original comment, however. The namesake was changed in 2005.

[roadman65]

Newark, NJ, which renamed High Street as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd had its guide signs on I-280 say "King Blvd." for a short while after NJDOT built the EB off ramp.  It was then changed to reflect his whole name in some form.  I am guessing that Al Sharpton was riding in the back of his fancy limo, and looked out the window and thought that just King Blvd. was being disrespectful to the great man and demanded it be changed at once.

[jwolfer]

..

[Kacie Jane]

MLK Way in Seattle was already mentioned, but I would like to point out that King County was originally named for William R King, Vice President under Franklin Pierce. The county decided in the mid-80s to rename the county after MLK (why, I have no idea -- this area has zero connection with MLK).

This area has zero connection with Vice President King either.

He was VP when the county was created. Everywhere in the country had a connection with King/Pierce for a short while, Pierce alone thereafter.

I would like to correct my original comment, however. The namesake was changed in 2005.

Your original statement was correct.  The county decided to change the name(sake) in the 1980s.  2005 is the date it was written into state law.  Whether or not that was totally necessary is somewhat trivial, I suppose it was to serve the purpose of amending the original county charter.

(In other words, the county changed the name in the 80s.  The state changed the name in 2005.  Which one you use as the official date is probably up to you and doesn't matter much.)

[Scott5114]

Oklahoma City's M.L. King Ave. is a rename of the section of Eastern Ave. between Wilshire Ave. in the north and Reno Ave. in the south. The southern part of it is in a pretty bad neighborhood, but it gets better the farther north it goes, and its northern end is in a fairly rural part of northeast Oklahoma City.

[golden eagle]

MLK Jr. Drive in Jackson does run through a lower-income area, but not particularly violent.

[mapman1071]

This morning, I noticed that at the intersection of 99th& maryland avenues in Glendale, AZ a white on blue street blade bearing the words "Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd." had been installed on the light mast, so there were two names posted for this one road (maryland ave.). Though the regular white on green sign with the usual name remained, so no doubt that the name change is temporary.

White on Blue blade or streetlight marker signs are usually used to celebrate a person (live or passed on). They may be temporary or permanent   

[Rick1962]

Tulsa's MLK Blvd. Is the former N. Cincinnati Ave. between Archer St. & 66th St. North. City Councilor Jack Henderson tried for years to get it changed, and the city finally did it within the past couple of years to shut him up. I guess the MLK Expressway  (I-244) and MLK Memorial Overpass on Cincinnati Ave. downtown weren't enough.

[thenetwork]

Cleveland's MLK Blvd. was originally Liberty Boulevard between I-90 and University Circle and is pretty much a parkway through Rockefeller Park.  South of the circle, it took over East Boulevard. which wound through various neighboorhoods (like Outer Drive in Detroit). With the exception around University Circle, MLK pretty much runs smack through poor urban neighborhoods.

Akron's MLK Blvd. consists of what was Perkins Avenue (SR-59) from SR-8/North Expressway to the northern terminus of the Akron Innerbelt.  The Innerbelt (SR-59) itself was named the MLK Freeway from old Perkins St. to I-76/I-77.  The freeway portion divides the older, urban neighborhoods and Downtown Akron while the Boulevard divides the northern area of downtown with the Cuyahoga River Valley.

With the partial teardown of the underused Innerbelt from Exchange St. to Perkins, I do not know if the new roadways replacing the Innerbelt will be named/renamed MLK something.

[mrsman]

In 1983, Santa Barbara Avenue in Los Angeles was renamed after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The way it hangs on signs is different, depending on the type of sign:

Since the name change was in 1983, of course, it doesn't even appear on any "shotgun" or black blade style signs.

(If you don't know what I'm talking about, see : http://militantangeleno.blogspot.com/2011/03/signs-of-times.html  )

Blue Blade Sign:

Normally it follows:    Wilshire              Bl
                                               2300 W

For MLK it looks like

Martin              King  Jr Blvd
Luther
                          2300 W

with the Martin and Luther in smaller print, one on top of the other.  On all signs of this type, the address number is on a separate smaller attached blade.


Trapezoid signs:

Normally:   Wilshire Bl
                 2300 W                 


MLK:     Martin Luther King  Jr
              2300 W              Bl

So to account for the long name, they had to make changes to the way the signs normally look.

At traffic lights, there are the famous blue signs hanging from the mast arm.  In the case of MLK, it always just says:  King Bl.  No mention of his first or middle name at all.

LA has to make all sorts of accommodations for very long street names.  The signs for San Fernando Mission Blvd are just downright ugly.

(And they can't rename the street to Mission, because there are other Mission streets leading to the San Gabriel Mission, which is much closer to Downtown LA.)

[D-Dey65]

Brooksville, Florida's MLK Blvd is pretty run down, especially close to FL 50A. Although there's a biker bar at the intersection with South Main Street that looks like a hangout for biker gangs, some which have been known to include white supremacists.

I could be wrong about that, but I don't know.