Kyle City Council Votes Unanimously to Rename W. Ranch to Market Road 150 to Veterans Drive

KYLE, TEXAS – During their Tuesday, March 16 meeting, Kyle City Council approved the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Renaming Committee to rename W. Ranch to Market Road 150 to Veterans Drive.   

After some discussion, Council voted unanimously to rename the stretch of road Veterans Drive on a first and final reading. Council also gave direction to City Staff to open applications to businesses along the road to apply for reimbursement using the $5,346 of funds previously approved by City Council for address changes needed due to the road being renamed.   

The change will not go into effect until Memorial Day on Monday, May 31, 2021 at which time Veterans Drive street signs will be installed and mapping services will be updated.

The portion of W. Ranch to Market Road 150 being renamed to Veterans Drive extends from its southern end at W. Center Street 1.67 miles north to the intersection of North Old Stagecoach Road/Farm to Market Road 2770.    

The City of Kyle is working with the United States Postal Service to ensure a smooth transition to the new addresses for all properties affected and will automatically deliver mail to both street names for one year. The City will send a certified letter to all affected business owners, property owners and current residents. Post office box holders along this roadway will be notified with a letter distributed by the postmaster.   

Business owners, property owners and current residents assigned a Veterans Drive street address will need to notify appropriate contacts (list for consideration below). 

Please note that the Post Office will NOT require a change of address form to be submitted.

• IRS    
• State tax agency    
• Social Security Agency    
• Driver's License    
• Utilities, Cable, Phone & Internet    
• Insurance    
• Employer    
• Bank/Credit card    
• Loan providers   
• Paypal/Venmo    
• Magazine and subscription services    
• Online shopping sites    
• Clubs/Organizations    
• Doctor, dentist, veterinarian, etc.  
• Family and friends    

Notifications will not be required at the Appraisal District, the Passport Office (unless the application is currently in process) or the City of Kyle utility service and billing.  

Background on Ad Hoc Renaming Committee  

The Kyle City Council originally approved an ordinance to rename the entire length of Rebel Drive to Fajita Drive at its Aug. 18, 2020 meeting. After listening to members of the community express discomfort with the renaming, the City Council decided to hold a public hearing and take action to reconsider the item to allow more input from the community at its Aug. 25 meeting.      

After holding a public hearing during the City Council’s Aug. 25, 2020 meeting, they voted six to one to rescind the previous vote to rename Rebel Drive to Fajita Drive at their Aug. 18, 2020 meeting. Council then voted unanimously on a first reading to remove Rebel Drive as the street name.   

During their Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020 meeting, Kyle City Council approved, upon second reading, the removal of the street name Rebel Drive — officially reverting the road back to its state assigned designation as W. Ranch to Market Road 150, until a new name was chosen — and approved a resolution creating an Ad Hoc Committee to rename West Ranch to Market Road 150.   

The Council selected 15 members to participate on the Ad Hoc Renaming Committee including: Alysha Buono, Anthony Davis, David Glicker, Elizabeth Godfrey-Weidig, Fred Guerra, Gilbert Jordan, Humberto Aguin, Karen Shields, Lino Montonya, Nick Landis, Priscilla Harrell, Ronald Guentzel, Summer Mann, Vanessa Westbrook and Wilma Javey.   

The Ad Hoc Renaming Committee held a total of seven meetings between Oct. 21, 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021, before whittling down their selection to present to City Council.   

The final selection of names presented were Veterans Drive, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Albert Taylor Street — Taylor was one of several African American businessmen who owned a cleaning and press shop in downtown Kyle in the 1900s.  

As part of the Committee’s process for recommending new names, they explored several avenues for renaming the stretch of road including naming it after the newly-selected Hays High School Mascot, but after several discussions, the school’s location in Mountain City's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) as well as Farm to Market Road 2770 already being designated as Jack C. Hays Trail — the school’s namesake — led the committee to go in other directions.   

The committee also considered keeping the original state designation of W. Ranch to Market Road 150, but the County and Texas Department of Transportation are set to start construction in the next two years on an extension of W. Ranch to Market Road 150 that will convert the existing W. Ranch to Market Road 150 to Business W. Ranch to Market Road 150. 

***UPDATE: This Press Release was updated to say that Kyle City Council approved the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Renaming Committee to rename W. Ranch to Market Road 150 to Veterans Drive during the Tuesday, March 16 meeting instead of the Feb. 2 meeting.