Civil rights activists say MLK Highway not recognized enough

Monday, Nov. 8, 1999 | 10:20 a.m.

Fifteen months after the road was named after the slain civil rights leader, only four signs - two in each direction - draw attention to the King highway as it stretches 26 miles from the Mount Rose Highway north to the California border.

"We fought too long and too hard to get it on paper only to be ignored," said Bill Moon, former president of the Reno-area NAACP chapter. "Its too important a highway to continue to say 395 and not Martin Luther King."

Onie Cooper, a Reno activist and another past president of the Reno-Sparks NAACP who led the cause to honor the slain civil rights leader, said he expected more highway signs and thought newspaper and TV news coverage would begin using the King name.

The designation became official in May 1998, and signs were dedicated on July 24 of that year.

Before convincing state highway officials, Cooper first tried unsuccessfully to have a street or road in Reno or Washoe County renamed for King. Residents and businesses complained that an address change would be inconvenient and expensive.

King, who waged a crusade of civil disobedience throughout the South before his assassination in 1968, "did things to make life better for all of us, not just black folks," Cooper said.

Highway officials are leaving open the possibility of adding signs.

"We felt the four signs were plenty," said Scott Magruder of the Nevada Department of Transportation. "But it's certainly something we can look at."

Cooper cited the lack of signs for those who use the freeway from Glendale Avenue south to Mount Rose Highway.

"I think there should be signs at every on ramp," he said. "In Las Vegas, Martin Luther King Boulevard has signs at every intersection."