VALDOSTA, Ga. — Given the length of Forrest Street stretching from downtown north into the county, a city official said the process of changing the street name to Barack Obama Boulevard would be massive.

Valdosta City Manager Mark Barber said he has not yet met with organizers about the name change but he said, “when any street names have been renamed in the past, they’ve been very small. … We’ve never had a street name this massive before.”

Forrest Street includes north and south designations and an extension. The street is 3.8 miles in length. It runs from Martin Luther King Drive to East Hill Avenue as South Forrest to Inner Perimeter Road as North Forrest to Bemiss Road as a Forrest Street extension.

Though Barber hasn’t had any conversations with the People’s Tribunal regarding the name change, he said the city does not discourage or encourage anyone.

Costs per sign would be dependent upon whether it is an overhead banner sign, intersection sign or a pole sign.

“Once we know exactly where we’re doing (it), we calculate it per a signal, a sign, the pole, the installation, the manpower … and so, that cost is going to accumulate just for that,” he said.

The city would need to reprogram its utility billing system to ensure residents continue receiving their bills. It would also affect banks, business licenses and more.

“For us as a city, or for any local government, it’s not about why they want to change it or anything like that, it’s about costs,” Barber said.

Financing for the project would come from general funding, meaning city tax dollars would pay for it, Barber said.

The civil rights group has gained 50 signatures so far in its petitioning to rename Forrest, said the Rev. Floyd Rose, Tribunal president.

The next step would be for Tribunal members to submit the petition to the city engineering department for verification that 60 percent of the street’s residents have signed.

“Truly what the petition does is just kind of get it to a point where mayor and council would consider it,” Barber said.

Rose confirmed the People’s Tribunal is using a petition it retrieved from the city.

The city ordinance states the petition must be signed by “60 percent of property owners and/or residents abutting the public street for which the name change or closing is requested.”

“Residents abutting” would mean any renters in an apartment complex could be included if the Tribunal chooses to select that particular area to be affected, Barber said.

If a house is owned by more than one person, then all property owners can sign the petition should they choose, he said.

Generally, the engineering department would use a geographic information system to confirm the signers are taxpayers.

Barber said the typical process includes using a map to locate any possible safety issues regarding dispatch and public safety. He said the 911 system would have to be reprogrammed.

City officials would need to visit each resident to ensure the validity of the signature after looking into Lowndes County tax records, he said.

Similar to Oak Street, Forrest Street has an extension that spans about 6,900 feet and crosses into the Lowndes County limits, said Matt Martin, city planning and zoning administrator.

Martin said the Forrest Street Extension begins at Inner Perimeter Road and ends at Bemiss Road. Only about 350 feet of the extension is within city limits, he said.

Rose confirmed the People’s Tribunal would like Forrest Street signs in the county limits to change along with the city signs.

Rose and others contend the street is named for Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and a founder of the Ku Klux Klan. Rose said Forrest Street residents are predominantly black and should not have to live on a street named for Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Others claim the street is named for a Lowndes County resident of the late 1800s — Elbert Forrest, a black farmer.

Paige Dukes, county clerk and public information officer, confirmed the county would not be opposed to changing road signs but only if the change is approved by the city.

She said there are more residents living in the city portion of Forrest Street than in the county, which minimizes any costs for the county.

Since the majority of Forrest Street is in the city, the name change would apply to the entire length of the street if the city chose to rename it, County Manager Joseph Pritchard said.

“To leave a portion of the street with no definitive beginning or end with a different name would be confusing to citizens and would create an additional consideration for public safety,” he said.

Amanda Usher is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1274.