Editing Alcaniz Street

{{Infobox Road
|marker_image=<table style="background: transparent;"><td>[[Image:Businesssign.png|52px]]<br/>[[Image:US 98.png|52px]]</td><td>[[Image:Fsr291.png|100px]]</td></table>
|road_name=Alcaniz Street
|name_notes=
|type=
|route=[[US Highway 98|US 98 BUS]]<br/>[[Florida State Road 291|Florida 291]]
|alternate_name=
|maint=
|length_mi=
|length_round=
|length_ref=
|length_notes=
|established=
|decommissioned=
|direction_a=north
|starting_terminus=[[Cervantes Street]] ([[US Highway 90|US 90]]/[[US Highway 98|US 98]])
|junction=[[Wright Street]]<br/>[[Gregory Street]]<br/>[[Garden Street]]
|direction_b=south
|ending_terminus=[[Bayfront Parkway]]
|namesake=
|map=
|mapcode=
}}

[[Alcaniz Street]] a north-south street in downtown Pensacola.  It currently runs between its northern terminus at [[Cervantes Street]] to its southern terminus at [[Bayfront Parkway]].

Alcaniz runs one-way southbound between Cervantes and [[Wright Street]]s, where it becomes two-way and widens until [[Garden Street]], at which point several southbound lanes branch off to form the westbound span of Garden.  Alcaniz Street continues southward through the [[historic district]] to Bayfront Parkway.

The road from Cervantes northward to East [[36th Street]] was formerly named Alcaniz as well, but was renamed to [[Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive]] on [[January 14]], [[2000]], after an effort led by [[Movement for Change]] President [[LeRoy Boyd]]. The original proposal was to rename the entire street, but there was opposition from changing the name in the historical district. The City Council concurred with keeping the Alcaniz name, splitting the street so it honors both past and recent history.

Some notable landmarks along Alcaniz Street include the [[Crowne Plaza Grand Hotel]], the [[Pensacola Civic Center]] and [[Seville Square]].

==Spanish origins==
One of their earliest appearances of the name Alcaniz is on the “[[Plan of Pensacola]]” (1813), which, as Dr. [[Bill Coker]] noted, is the first downtown map prepared by a municipal government for the City of Pensacola.  The Spanish Constitution of 1812 first permitted the organization of democratically-elected city governments, and by 1813, Pensacola had a city government of a mayor and councilmen. The 1813 map, found in the Vicente Pintado Papers of the Library of Congress (copies at the [[University of West Florida Library]]), shows the town of Pensacola from the water to Romana Street.  The three named north-south streets are [[Palafox]], [[Tarragona]], and [[Alcaniz]]. Three other street names on the map are significant; these are [[Intendencia]], [[Zaragoza]], Gobierno ([[Government]]), and Church Street, although this latter is different than present-day [[Church Street]] in [[Seville Square]]. Gobierno on the 1813 map is “Gobierno Nueve” or New Government Street. 

The name itself seems to come from Spain. One of the principal cities of Teruel (in the region of [[Aragon]]) is the town of Alcaniz, which may take its name from the plain, Alcaniz, where it is situated. (This is consistent with other Pensacola street names. Another Spanish province is [[Tarragona]] whose capital city, Tarragona, is traditionally where St. Paul founded the Christian church in Spain in A.D. 60. One of the major towns of Tarragona province is [[Reus]].)

==Florida State Road 291 carriage==
Alcaniz Street carries the southbound half of [[Florida State Road 291]] between [[Cervantes Street|Cervantes]] and [[Gregory Street]]s, as well as Florida 291's northbound span for one block, between [[Gregory Street|Gregory]] and [[Wright Street]]s.  At [[Wright Street|Wright]], Florida 291 northbound heads east on Wright for one block, then turns north onto [[Davis Street]].

==US 98 Business carriage==
Alcaniz Street carries [[US Highway 98|US 98 Business]] southbound for two blocks, between [[Gregory Street|Gregory]] and [[Garden Street]]s, as well as [[US Highway 98|US 98 Business]] northbound for one block, between [[Garden Street|Garden]] and [[Chase Street]]s.