Cesar Chavez Boulevard will once again become Durango Boulevard after the San Antonio City Council unanimously approved restoring the historic street name Thursday, ending a months-long renaming process prompted by sexual abuse allegations against the late labor leader.
Read more San Antonio votes to rename Cesar Chavez Boulevard back to Durango
The 11-0 vote applies to the roughly 5-mile stretch between Southwest 36th Street and South Hackberry Street, affecting 295 addresses across portions of Districts 1, 2, 5 and 6.
The change will require more than 100 signs to be replaced, including 58 ground-mounted signs, 31 overhead signs mounted to streetlights and 15 highway signs.
Development Services Director Amin Tohmaz told council Thursday that the project will cost about $375,000. According to city documents, funding for updated signage will come from the city’s fiscal year 2026 General Fund budget.
Tohmaz said Public Works expects it will take about two months to design and install city-owned signs, while the Texas Department of Transportation told the city its highway signage could take six months to a year.
The decision to restore Durango follows a citywide survey and two listening sessions held in April. More than 18,000 people responded to the survey, with 64% supporting Durango Boulevard. Among respondents who lived along the corridor, 79% favored restoring the name.
Residents floated alternatives during the listening sessions, including names honoring the United Farm Workers movement and local civil rights and labor leaders. But Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5), who initiated the formal renaming process, said Thursday that the people who would be most directly affected by the change made their preference clear.
“The majority of residents who live on Cesar Chavez and now propose Durango made it crystal clear that they want a key historical thoroughfare to reflect the name and a piece of history that they could be proud of,” Castillo said.
Castillo said the Durango name also reflects the West Side’s connection to Mexico, pointing to nearby streets named for Mexican cities and states, including Tampico and Monterrey.
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The boulevard carried the Durango name until 2011, when City Council renamed it for Chavez. City leaders began reconsidering that decision in March after sexual abuse allegations against Chavez became public, prompting San Antonio to cancel its annual Cesar Chavez march and launch the survey that ultimately led to Thursday’s vote.
The renaming will also require residents and businesses along the corridor to update their addresses with banks, government agencies and other institutions.
When Castillo launched the formal process this spring, her request called for the city to explore waiving application and notification fees and using money previously allocated for the canceled Cesar Chavez March to help residents and businesses with costs associated with changing their addresses. The final city documents allocate funding for the new signage but do not specify how much, if any, assistance will ultimately be available directly to affected residents.
City officials did not immediately respond to request for comment on the amount of assistance if any that is being provided.
Officials assured residents they will not have to worry about their ability to vote in the upcoming elections in November. Tohmaz told the council that Bexar County — which handles elections — had provided written confirmation that the name change would not impact voting.
Several council members praised the return to Durango saying it restores a name that remained part of the local vocabulary long after it disappeared from street signs.
Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran (D3) said some residents she heard from never stopped calling the corridor Durango.
“They are very pleased, and that’s the majority of what I heard from the residents,” Viagran said. “We still call it that — just change it back or rename it to that.”
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