A road running across south Florida would be named after President Donald Trump and Tallahassee’s airport would add legendary Florida State University football coach Bobby Bowden to its name under a bill that passed the Senate on Wednesday.
The bill (SB 628) would dub 125 miles of State Road 80 in Palm Beach County as “President Donald J. Trump Highway.”
The measure was amended by Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, a former FSU football player under Bowden who won a national championship in 1999, to add the late coach’s name to Tallahassee International Airport.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, directs the Department of Transportation to put up markers for several roads across the state, from Escambia County to Jacksonville and south to Broward County.
One of those roads includes a portion of College Avenue between Copeland Street and South Monroe Street in Tallahassee, which will be named “President John Thrasher Memorial Boulevard” after the former FSU president and Republican House Speaker.
Another road renaming would designate State Road 295 between Duncan 8 Road and Gulf Beach Highway in Escambia County as “Warrior Sacrifice Way” after three servicemembers who were killed in a terrorist attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola in 2019 – Mohammed Sameh Haitham, Joshua Kaleb Watson and Cameron Scott Walters.
The vote was 34-3 and the bill now heads back to the House.
