There’s more to Friday’s Cesar Chavez Boulevard celebration. We answer some questions

María G. Ortiz-Briones
·4 min read

A year after the Fresno City Council voted to place the name of iconic farmworker leader César E. Chávez on a 10-mile stretch of Kings Canyon Road, Ventura Avenue and California Avenue, Fresno City councilmembers will celebrate the renaming with lowriders, banda music and mobile food vendors on Friday.

The celebration will start at 3 p.m. at the Fresno Center/Adult Day Health Care Center, 4855 E. Cesar Chavez Blvd. (formerly E. Kings Canyon Road).

The process culminates an effort by Councilmembers Luis Chávez and Miguel Arias to rename the roads 32 years after a similar effort was approved and then rejected by the council and mayor following public outcry.

Fresno became the first and only city in the San Joaquín Valley – the heart of the United Farmworkers movement – to name a street after Chávez, who died in 1993.

The council voted, 6-1, in March 2023 to rename the streets.

Here are answers to questions regarding the name change.

Q. Have lawsuits been resolved?

Not entirely.

In March, a Fresno County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the city in a lawsuit by 1 Community Compact, an informal coalition of business owners and residents who opposed the change. They challenged the council process, saying residents and business owners were not consulted in time about the name change.

A hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Aug. 1. A trial on the lawsuit is scheduled for March 2025.

Q. What happens to the old signs that were removed?

City of Fresno spokesperson Sontaya Rose said 219 street signs were replaced by a contractor hired by the city.

Rose said the city is going to keep the old signs for now.

“We are not doing anything with them,” Rose said. “You know, there’s some legal action going on right now. So, I think we’re just going to store them.”

Rose said businesses were notified when the city started putting them up in mid-June. The process took about a month to complete.

A work crew installs a new Cesar Chavez Boulevard sign in place of a Ventura Avenue sign at C Street in Fresno on Friday, June 14, 2024. Cesar Chavez Boulevard will now be the name of the road starting from California and Marks in west Fresno, continuing east along Ventura through downtown and then down Kings Canyon Road ending at Peach Avenue for a total of 10 miles.

Arias’s office said the old signs are in storage, and each was marked with cross-street names to identify the location they were at before they were taken down.

Q. Can I use the new name for GPS purposes?

You might want to use the former address if you use Google maps to get directions.

As of this week, searching for 4855 E. Cesar Chavez Blvd, Google maps will give you addresses in San Antonio, Texas, Portland Oregon and Los Ángeles, but nothing in Fresno.

But how long would it take for the new name to be reflected on search on google maps?

“We use a number of data sources to keep the information on Google Maps as fresh and up-to-date as possible. Whenever we’re aware of new updates in the real world, we update the map based on authoritative local data sources,” said Google spokesperson.

According to a Google spokesperson, the google maps team has begun to make changes which should become visible over the next few days. (If you want to learn more about how Google Maps updates the map click here.)

Q. Why are there no accents on the new street name?

At a Chavez Boulevard celebration last September, Councilmember Chávez said he consulted with Paul Chávez, the son of the labor leader, about the accents. The councilmember said the family preferred no accent marks be used to keep the name simple.

Will all of the streets have the new name?Portions of the streets that are in Fresno County islands will not be affected. The Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last year to oppose the name change.

Arte Américas executive director Arianna Paz Chávez and her mother, Lilia Gonzales-Chávez, take a selfie during the celebration of the renaming of Kings Canyon and two other streets in honor of farmworker icon César E. Chávez. The celebration took place at the Fresno fairgrounds on June 10, 2023.
Arte Américas executive director Arianna Paz Chávez and her mother, Lilia Gonzales-Chávez, take a selfie during the celebration of the renaming of Kings Canyon and two other streets in honor of farmworker icon César E. Chávez. The celebration took place at the Fresno fairgrounds on June 10, 2023.

Q. What will the name change cost residents and businesses?

The council has budgeted $1 million for the new street signs and installation, and to help businesses for changing cards, addresses and other expenses.

Q. Will we see Chavez Boulevard directions on local freeways?

A cooperative agreement with Caltrans to replace the freeway signs with Cesar Chavez Boulevard will be up for council approval in late August or early September, according to Arias’ office.

Q. Will the post office still deliver mail with the old address?

Back in 1993, the Fresno postmaster said he expected no problem with the street change. The U.S. Postal Service will treat it like any of the other address changes they handle.

Postal workers will continue to deliver mail to an old street address for about 18 months after a name change. After the 13th month, the mail is returned to the sender with the new address attached. After 18 months, the mail is returned to the sender with no new address.