Industrial's getting a new name, and you'll have a say in what it is.

JIM MAHONEY/DMN

While the renaming of Industrial Boulevard in Dallas has broad support, there is concern about the additional costs that businesses will incur in stationery and other expenses.

The Dallas City Council's Trinity River committee outlined a plan Tuesday to rename Industrial Boulevard based on input from property owners along the road and Dallas residents at large.

The idea is to give the downtrodden boulevard a spiffier image as the city goes forward with its billion-dollar-plus Trinity River project. The committee discussed renaming Industrial on the same day that it adopted a new Trinity project logo.

The multistep voting process sounds a little like the convoluted "Texas two-step" for selecting Democratic presidential delegates. There will be nominations, then a caucus, then a vote, followed by another vote, followed by more voting ...

Here's how it will work:

• Industrial Boulevard property and business owners, along with city residents as a whole, have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit suggested names. They can do so by going to the city's Trinity project Web site, www.trinityrivercorridor.org, by sending an e-mail to mytrinityriver@dallascityhall.com or by calling 214-671-9025.

There are Postal Service restrictions. Names can't be more than 14 characters, so "Down By The River I Shot My Baby Boulevard" is out. Apostrophes aren't permitted, so "What's That Smell Street" won't work. And it can't closely resemble an existing street name. "Turtle Creek Boulevard" is taken.

• At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, about 330 Industrial business and property owners are invited to a meeting at City Hall. They'll be asked to winnow the list of submitted names, along with scores of suggestions that the city already has assembled, to 10 possibilities. The meeting actually is open to everyone, but city staff hopes that those most affected by the name change will predominate.

• The Trinity River committee will meet on May 6 and choose three finalists from the shortlist of 10.

• During the last week of May, residents will be able to vote online, by mail or by phone for their favorite among the three.

• The full council hopes to give final approval to the name change on June 25.

Presumably, the council will heed the will of the people. But the final decision rests with the full council, said council member David Neumann, chairman of the Trinity River committee.

Under questioning Tuesday from council member Ron Natinsky, Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan acknowledged that the city doesn't plan to monitor the online voting. She said there is "really absolutely nothing to prevent" someone from sitting all day long at a computer and submitting votes. Mr. Natinsky said the city should explore technologies to prevent that.

Council member Mitchell Rasansky said the name change is "a very big imposition" for the businesses that will have to change their stationery, business cards and so forth.

"I'm not against this," he said. "We just need to show some compassion for the people who are there."

But Marcus Wood, a longtime real estate broker in the Industrial corridor, said after the committee meeting that he knows of few business owners – "maybe a couple of the scrap yards" – who don't favor a name change.