BATON ROUGE - A majority of signs along the newly named Lorri Burgess Avenue reflect the change implemented by the City-Parish in January.

However, a few have flown under the radar and still sport the old Washington Street name, including some very obvious signs on the Interstate and the street address on the side of the Leo S. Butler Community Center. 

"Constituents know East Washington Street, Lorri Burgess Street... They know that it is synonymous," said District 10 Councilwoman, Carolyn Coleman, who runs the Leo S. Butler Community Center.

Coleman was part of the movement to rename the street in honor of former District 10 Councilwoman, Lorri Burgess, who served on the metro council for 12 years. Burgess was also the first female African-American Mayor Pro-tempore but sadly lost her battle with cancer in 2020.

"[She was] very instrumental here in district ten and that's why it warranted a name change to the street," Coleman said.

Coleman said the bold Washington Street address on the side of her community center is in the process of being changed, but it's not a top priority at the moment. 

"But it's on that list," Coleman said. "And we have begun the process with DPW (Department of Public Works) with getting the address changed."

Coleman also warned her District 10 residents to watch for a letter in the mail about changing home addresses along that street, but she did not specify when those letters would be sent.

"Look for information coming soon on the website or in the mail or somewhere so that they can be knowledgeable about what's going on here in District 10," Coleman said.

As for the other signage along surface streets, such as the one at the intersection of Highland Road, the City-Parish says it will be changed "when [they] can," according to a spokesperson. DOTD says the Washington Street exit sign on I-10 will be updated with the new name during the widening project.