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Guidelines
If a street name has not been established, a New Street Name Application must be submitted for approval. The new street name must be unique on a countywide basis and cannot duplicate another street name or approximate the phonetic pronunciation of that name within Wake County.
Emergency service response and mail delivery can be affected by duplicate names in different locations. You can check for existing names using the Wake County's Street Name Search tool.
Please consider the following guidelines when selecting your possible road names:
- An individual person’s name is not allowed
- Punctuation is not allowed e.g. periods, hyphens, apostrophes
- Names must be easy to pronounce and should effect a positive connotation
- Limit the entire name to 20 characters in length, due to sign-space limitations
See a full list of naming guidelines in the New Street Name Application
Why should a street name be changed?
- Duplications: Street name duplications may be carryovers from historical street names or may be due to new road construction, or to realignment, a connection of roads that were previously separate, or disconnection of existing roads that previously formed one continuous route.
- Desire of property owners: There may be cases where a street name is desired by adjoining property owners. Unless there is a public purpose to be served, requesting a name change is not encouraged, for it requires a considerable cost to the residents and to service providers such as the City and private utility companies
Application and Approval Process
The street renaming process takes about eight to 10 weeks for requests by residents.
| Step | Description |
| 1. Submit Application |
Submit the following required documents to the Planning and Development Customer Service Center:
|
| 2. Staff Review |
The Department of Transportation Director and Information Technology Department Director, will review the street name change application to make sure it meets the guidelines. |
| 3. Council Review* |
The City Council will consider the street name change application and shall adopt, or decline to adopt, a resolution of intent to hold a public hearing on the street name change application. |
| 4. Public Hearing* |
Raleigh property owners, residents and the community will get a chance to give feedback on the proposed street name. Following the public hearing, the City Council may approve or deny the street name change request by resolution, which shall set forth the effective date of the name change. |
| 5. Street Name Effective Date* |
In most cases the effective date will be either the July 1 or January 2 following City Council action. View additional information. |
* These steps are contingent upon staff and City Council approval.
Fees
- See Development Fee Guide for specific fees
- The Planning and Development Customer Service Center processes payments
- Payment types include cash, MasterCard, Visa or check made payable to the City of Raleigh
Additional Information
Below are answers to some common questions.
City-Initiated Street Name Changes
If the reason for a street name change is to eliminate or reduce problems associated with a street address or to facilitate emergency service delivery, then the City will initiate and process the street name petition.
If the City is initiating the process and has not received a petition from one or more of the adjoining owners, the Transportation staff will notify all affected property owners and tenants to solicit suggestions for a unique county-wide street name. Upon receipt of the responses, the Transportation staff will review them for duplications, and resurvey the affected property owners and tenants to determine the most acceptable names from among the non-duplicate suggestions.
Once an acceptable name is determined, the Transportation staff will prepare the required information and place the application on an upcoming Raleigh City Council agenda for review and consideration. City Council will adopt or decline to adopt, a resolution of intent to hold a public hearing on the street name change application.
If the Raleigh City Council does adopt a resolution of intent authorizing a public hearing, a notice will be sent to all affected property owners and tenants, and the hearing will be advertised in the legal section of the newspaper. At the public hearing, City Council will either adopt a resolution changing the name and set an effective date or deny the request.
Once the City Council changes a street name, when does it become effective and who does the City notify?
In most cases, the effective date will be either July 1 or January 2 following City Council action. In many instances, after communication with residents and property owners, an effective date agreeable to all parties can be reached. In some instances, the adopted street name change resolution by Raleigh City Council will require a plat with the old and new street names on it to be recorded at the Wake County Register of Deeds.
The City will notify the local utility companies, all City of Raleigh Departments, Wake County Government, North Carolina Department of Transportation -Division of Highways, local utility companies, U.S. Postal Service, residents, and property owners of the street name change and the effective date set by Raleigh City Council in the resolution changing the street name. The individual property owners must notify all other parties. Parties to notify may include the Department of Motor Vehicles, Social Security Administration, banks, and credit card companies, as well as others who may regularly send mail to the previous address.
