White Settlement Rd. may become Westside Dr. – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

A significant portion of White Settlement Road, which cuts across the city’s west side, would be renamed to Westside Drive if approved by the city council.

This is the roughly mile-long portion of White Settlement that stretches from the roundabout intersection of North Henderson Street and Jacksboro Highway downtown to University Drive.

“It will literally change the landscape of that particular area of Fort Worth,” said Fort Worth councilmember Elizabeth Beck.

Fort Worth city councilmember Elizabeth Beck is calling this potential street name change “a double win for the city of Fort Worth.”  Renaming White Settlement Rd. to Westside Dr. would be the second major component of change on that side of Fort Worth.

Set to break ground next year at the corner of White Settlement and University Dr., A 37-acre $1.7 billion upscale development at the site of the old Fort Worth ISD headquarters.  

That includes a mix of office and retail space, a luxury hotel, and apartments.

“Really, anytime we have a significant development and one of those really landscape changing developments, and the developers come to us and ask for a name change, you know, to help create that sense of place for that development and we have a history of working with them to do that, and that’s what we’ve done here,” said Beck.

Beck says the proposed name originated from Westside Village’s developers and would cover the roughly $26,000 in related costs for the change.

Native American advocates have pushed for a street name change for decades.

The nearly 200-year-old stretch of White Settlement Rd. has ties to Fort Worth’s history of pushing Native Americans out of the region.

“Change can sometimes be difficult,” said Beck. “You get used to calling something by a certain name, but we’ve done it before throughout the city, and I’m sure that residents will be calling it West Side Dr., before we know it.”

It’s not a done deal just yet. The Fort Worth city council will vote to rename that roughly one-mile portion of White Settlement Rd. to Westside Dr. on Tuesday, Oct. 21st.