By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–In an effort to further market the city of Helena, the Helena City Council approved the renaming of Shelby County 52 and 17 within the Helena city limits to Helena Parkway.

The Helena City Council approved Resolution 11162015 that would rename Shelby County 17/Shelby County 52 to Helena Parkway on Monday, Nov. 16.

Street signs will soon be added to reflect the changes and Helena Mayor Mark Hall said the main reason for the change is to give that section of the city an identity.

“We’re trying to give an identity to that section of the city for marketing and identification purposes to rename within our city limits,” said Hall. “We’d like to rename that because it helps us portray that area in a more positive light as we take ownership of that area in Helena. We thought Helena Parkway would be fitting.”

Shelby County 52 runs all the way to Morgan Road and Shelby County 17 runs all the way to Montevallo and Hall said the name change would only take affect in the Helena city limits.

“It’s the same concept as in Pelham with Pelham Parkway which is U.S. 31, it’s still called U.S. 31,” said Hall. “This will not affect any 911 service or any mail service. It’s really a vanity name but we’ll start changing street signs and I think it’s a good marketing name for our city since that is most of our main new business district area.”