President Obama might be getting another tribute here in Los Angeles, in the form of seeing his name on a freeway. A proposed resolution before the California legislature would rename a portion of the 134 Freeway in honor of the 44th president.
“California has a long history of designating our freeways as reminders of the accomplishments of important leaders who have shown character, strength and passion,” State Senator Anthony Portantino told the L.A. Times regarding the proposal he introduced.
The idea to rename the portion of the 134 that runs from Glendale to Eagle Rock came together after the ceremony to lay a plaque outside the apartment where a young Barack Obama lived during his time as a student at Occidental College. Portantino’s district, the 25th, includes that site, as well as the area of the proposed Barack H. Obama Freeway, and a group of local community activists approached him with the idea of the highway naming.
If the resolution passes, it’s likely that the soon-to-be-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.
Any renaming of a freeway in Los Angeles naturally raises two questions. First, how will we refer to it? Will we start calling the route that connects the 2 and 210 freeways “the Obama”? And, secondly, with traffic being as frustrating as it is, is having a freeway named after you really that great of an honor after all?
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