Public Works takes up proposal to rename street after Vel Phillips

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- On Thursday the Milwaukee Public Works Committee will take up a proposal that would rename a portion of a street to "Vel R. Phillips Avenue” in honor of the civil rights pioneer and Wisconsin politician who died last week.

Phillips was the first female judge in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin's first African American judge and the first African American Secretary of State elected.

The proposed ordinance covers a stretch of 4th Street from West Saint Paul Avenue through downtown and north to West Capitol Drive.

The Common Council would still need to approve the measure if passed.