Plans for renaming part of Sumner-Buckley Highway in time for Veterans Day may have fallen by the wayside due to an unexpected backlash from longtime residents and business along the road, but many members of the city council still support the change.

“I still think the name needs to change,” said Councilmember Mark Hamilton during a brief discussion at the council’s Nov. 1 workshop.

Hamilton was at the fore of the issue earlier this year when he proposed renaming the section of roadway in honor of the city’s veterans and first responders.

Hamilton said he was spurred by the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the anniversary of the start of the War in Afghanistan the following month.

But business owners along the street balked at the idea and small, but vocal minority of residents urged the council not to change the name, which has a historical context and a special place in the hearts of longtime residents.

Hamilton said he’d still like to see and up-or-down vote on the issue as soon as possible.

Councilmember Donn Lewis, himself an Air Force veteran, made the motion to table the name change after residents during a public comment section asked them to further consider what the change might mean.

During the workshop, Lewis said he still supports the name change and agreed that he’d like the council to take a vote on the matter, stating that many of the concerns raised by residents – including the cost of changes and what it mean for businesses along the road  – were issues the council had already discussed.

Lewis also reminded the council that the name change was first proposed in 2008.

“It’s not a new thing,” he said.

The name change is not currently on the agenda for the council.