DALLAS — The Dallas North Tollway begins in what used to be Little Mexico, just north of downtown Dallas.

Only four of the neighborhood's original homes are left, and the construction of the toll road four decades ago split up what was — at the time — the largest and most vibrant Latin community in the city.

So if a street is to be re-named for a prominent Hispanic leader, could the Dallas North Tollway be one day known as César Chávez Boulevard?

"I had the idea, got on the computer yesterday, e-mailed a few people and here we are," said Neil Emmons, who represents District 14 on the City Plan Commission. Emmons said he proposed the name change on a city blog over the weekend, eliciting a storm of online comments — some of which he called racially divisive.

"What I'd like to see in the end is healing for this city," Emmons said, adding that he generally opposes changing historic street names.

"I think you change employee of the month, but street name changes — maybe not so much."

The North Texas Tollway Authority said they've heard of no proposal to rename the Dallas North Tollway and do not support the idea.

The 32-mile private highway caters to motorists in three cities north of Dallas, none of which are involved in the César Chávez street-naming debate.

Even the César Chávez Task Force, charged with collecting data and support for renaming Ross Avenue, says it has already considered the tollway option and discarded it.

"The tollway does not lend itself to an annual event that we're looking at having on March 31 to commemmorate César Chávez's birthday," said task force spokesman Albert Ruiz.

The task force has modified its original proposal, which would now limit the César Chávez name change to a three-mile stretch of Ross Avenue through downtown from Houston Street to Greenville Avenue.

The remaining half-mile of Ross Avenue to Live Oak Street would retain the Ross Avenue name.

The task force prefers to rename Ross due to its prominence, accessibility and recent history.

"You had the mega-march of 2006, where 500,000 people came out to march down Ross Avenue, so you have a direct connection to the people there," Ruiz said.

The Dallas Plan Commission should vote on the proposal to rename Ross by the end of September. If that panel approves, the plan goes before the full city council in November.

E-mail jbrady@wfaa.com