Where the streets have some dude's name
A guide to some of Austin's most famous honorary avenues
Because "Dead Law Professor Dr." doesn't have the same ring.
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Dean Keeton St.
Location: Where 26th Street should be, mathematically speaking, in the heart of the UT campus.
What makes them so special: W. Page Keeton spent 25 years as the dean of the University Of Texas School Of Law, and he was regarded as one of America's premier tort scholars. He also spread his seed throughout the political landscape: His daughter, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, has served as the mayor of Austin, Texas Railroad Commissioner, and State Comptroller, while his grandson, Scott McClellan, did a painful tour of duty as George W. Bush's press secretary.
Does he deserve it: When they hear the name "Dean Keeton,” visitors to Austin are probably more likely to think of Gabriel Byrne's character in The Usual Suspects than a deceased tort scholar and political patriarch who retired in 1974. Not to mention his heirs have all but squandered the family's once-considerable political clout with embarrassing gubernatorial runs and tell-all books. Rename it.
May we suggest… : Everyone who's ever tried biking up Dean Keeton from Guadalupe to I-35 can tell you all about its legendary, nearly insurmountable hill. Maybe they'd be more motivated if they were chugging along Lance Armstrong Ave.—and hey, the dedication ceremony would probably mean another Steve Miller concert.
Robert Martinez Jr. St.
Location: A few blocks east of Chicon St., running from Seventh St. down to Fiesta Gardens.
What makes them so special: An hour before his last shift in a patrol car, APD Officer Robert Martinez Jr. was on his way to help another officer when a truck pulled in front of him. Martinez swerved to avoid it, losing control of the car and running into a tree, and was killed in the line of duty.
Does he deserve it: Of course he does. Dying in your patrol car a mere 60 minutes before being permanently transferred to a cushy walking beat is about as cosmically unfair as life gets. Let him have his street.
May we suggest... : If you really had to rename it, maybe make it one more tribute to Austin’s short story titan William Henry Porter—a.k.a. O. Henry—whose work often featured twist endings like the one that claimed the life of Officer Martinez.
Ben White Blvd.
Location: The stretch of Highway 290/71 that runs from Lamar Blvd. to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
What makes them so special: After a handful of failed runs in the 1940s, "Uncle Ben" White eventually secured Austin City Council's Place 2, a post he was reelected to eight times from 1951 to 1967, making him one of Austin’s most popular politicians. The original Ben White Blvd. was just a stretch of S. First St.; a few months after the street was renamed for him, construction began on Hwy. 71, and the new name carried over to its current location.
Does he deserve it: Councilman White was instrumental in paving and widening S. First St, so if that still bore his name, there’d be no question. But what we call Ben White now doesn’t really have anything to do with him, so it's harder to justify. Furthermore, Ben White Blvd. was christened in 1958, while the dude was still busy serving his term—which means White voted (twice) for a resolution to name the street after himself. Kinda tacky, if you ask us.
May we suggest... : When it comes to quixotic attempts at civic politics, no one demonstrated more determination or moxie than the late Jennifer Gale, the transgendered Austin icon known for attending municipal meetings where she often put forth her arguments in song. Gale passed away last December as she was sleeping outside of a campus-area church, and while the perennial candidate never made it to office in any of her dozen bids, what better way to embody Austin’s current schism between corporate expansion and “keep it weird” attitude than driving to Walmart on Jennifer Gale Blvd.?
Martin Luther King Jr. St.
Just kidding.
Location: A couple of miles’ worth of US-183, running north to south from Hwy. 290 to Hwy. 71.
What makes them so special: As a district engineer with the Texas Highway Department, Bluestein was instrumental in conceiving and developing Loop 1—now known as MoPac—which is credited with solving one of Austin's earliest traffic problems.
Does he deserve it: Those small, local highways helped keep Austin moving back when it was just a sleepy college town, so you can’t argue that Bluestein didn’t have the right idea—and if were 1965, there’d be no question. In 2009? Anyone trying to make it down MoPac at rush hour would probably rather stick Bluestein’s name on a sewage treatment plant.
May we suggest... : How about this: Whoever figures out a way to get rid of those random bottlenecks that hit MoPac even in the middle of the fucking night when it makes absolutely zero sense gets the honor.
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