Manchaca Road is still Manchaca – for now.
A Travis County judge has temporarily blocked Austin from changing the name of the 8-mile South Austin road from Manchaca to Menchaca the day before it was slated to go into effect.
Travis County District Judge Orlinda Naranjo agreed to hear the case of Leave Manchaca Alone, a group that sued the city, arguing it didn't provide proper notice before a City Council vote on the name change last month. It also argued the change would be cost-prohibitive.
"We're very pleased that the court ... has taken our concerns about notice and due process seriously and we hope to obviously address that further," said Roger Borgelt, a lawyer for Leave Manchaca Alone. "We're happy that we've got this approximately two-week period to prove all that up."
The district court will hold a hearing in the case Nov. 29.
The city and others argue the name change corrects a historical misspelling of the name of José Antonio Menchaca, a onetime captain in the Texas Army. Menchaca frequented the area near Manchaca Springs, proponents say, and it was named for him.
Opponents argue there's no historical proof Menchaca frequented the area and it's more likely Manchaca derives from a Choctaw word.
The city said it would comply with the delay.
This story has been updated.
