Los Angeles names street after Barack Obama

Sign 'will serve as a physical reminder that no goal is out of reach and that no dream is too big', says LA City Council president

Los Angeles City officials unveil the Obama Boulevard sign during a festival and unveiling ceremony (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The City of Los Angeles has renamed a stretch of road after former president Barack Obama.

Obama Boulevard was unveiled on Saturday, replacing Rodeo Road, a three-mile street running across the city’s historic black neighbourhood.

It intersects with Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard and is in an area of the city that includes streets named in honour of other former presidents.

The road also runs past Rancho Cienga Sports Complex, where Mr Obama held a campaign rally when he was running for president in 2007.

“As we drive through this city and we see past presidents on Adams, on Washington, on Jefferson, now we’ll have one that was in our lifetime, who was a president for everybody: Barack Hussein Obama,” Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said at the unveiling, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A couple who proposed the name change told the Times they wanted to raise the profile of the road, attract more funding for the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw neighbourhood and honour the 44th US president.

“With this change, we are publicly documenting what Obama’s legacy as our nation’s first black president means to our city and our South Los Angeles community,” Los Angeles City Council president Herb Wesson said in a statement.

“For every child who will drive down this street and see the president’s name, this will serve as a physical reminder that no goal is out of reach and that no dream is too big.”

Mr Wesson introduced the legislation for the name change in 2017.