RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A new “Richmond Highway” sign is up at the intersection of Bellemeade and what was formerly Jefferson Davis Highway.
According to a city administration source, “The rest of the signs are expected to arrive in a couple of weeks, and DPW crews will then begin replacing all the Jeff Davis Hwy. signs, per the ordinance co-sponsored by Mayor Stoney and the City Council last summer.”
The Richmond City Council unanimously voted for the change back in December. The replacement of 98 signs will cost the city approximately $45,000.
“This is more than a symbolic change to a highway sign. It’s real proof that our city is literally and figuratively moving in the right direction,” Mayor Levar M. Stoney stated in a press release. “Richmond’s roads should connect people and bring them closer together, not drive them farther apart. You can’t promote unity without healing and healing without action. This action celebrates Richmond’s future, rather than glorifying its Confederate past.”
The city source says this is another sign that the city is moving in the “right direction” and away from “glorifying” its Confederate past.
The removal of the signs should take about a month to complete.
