A proposal to recognize President Obama by naming a local freeway in his honor has passed the California State Senate and looks set to move forward, the L.A. Times reports. Pretty soon, we'll be calling the stretch of the 134 Freeway that that connects the 2 and 210 “the Obama”.
The idea to rename the portion of the 134 that runs from Glendale to Eagle Rock came together after a ceremony to lay a plaque outside the apartment where a young Barack Obama lived during his time as a student at Occidental College. State Senator Anthony Portantino’s district, the 25th, includes that site, as well as the area of the would-be Barack H. Obama Freeway, and he was approached by a group of local community activists with the idea of the highway naming.
If the name change does indeed go through, it’s likely that former president will drive along the road sooner or later. The Obama family has reportedly invested in a SoCal home that they may be planning to move to after their younger daughter graduates high school.
“California has a long history of designating our freeways as reminders of the accomplishments of important leaders who have shown character, strength and passion,” Portantino told the L.A. Times.
Southern California already has a Ronald Reagan Freeway and Gerald Ford Drive. For a brief span, from 1971 to 1976, there was also a Richard Nixon Freeway, but after the whole Watergate scandal did a bit of damage to the Nixon brand, it was renamed as the Marina Freeway. President Nixon's name now only appears on Richard M. Nixon Parkway, a stretch of roadway in Yorba Linda near the entrance to his presidential library.
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