New Rules May Change How Michigan Honors Highway Heroes

When you drive across Michigan, you’ll most likely notice highways that are named after certain people. This can range from different people, from Martin Luther King Jr., to everyday people like police officers who died in the line of duty, whom people want to memorialize by naming a highways after them.

But if you wanted to name a highway after somebody, how would you go about doing it? New bills that are being introduced to the state of Michigan may render that question irrelevant.

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State Senator Veronica Klinefelt, who is one of the chairs of the Veterans and Emergency Services and Local Government committees, along with Senator Erika Geiss, is putting forth legislation that would restrict who could receive a memorial highway honor.

The legislation also limits the number of highways that can be renamed each year and gives protection to commemorations for at least 10 years, according to MLive.

Under the new legislation that they are proposing, the following examples are the only way a memorial designation would be able to be placed:

• A service member, uniformed officer or first responder who died in the line of duty.
• A military unit, military operation, military event, or military award, where the mission or purpose is directly related to at least one service member, uniformed officer or first responder who died in the line of duty.
• A person, group, organization or event that is historically or culturally significant to the state or the U.S.
• A mass casualty event

To be honest, I can see why the bill makes sense, so that not just anyone can get a highway named after them; however, I think it shouldn’t be limited to service members who have only died in the line of serving their country.

I think veterans should be honored, regardless of whether they died in action or not. But we will see if the legislation passes.

When you name a highway after somebody, it means something special, and it should mean something special, and it should be significant for the family, and it shouldn’t be every time somebody in politics wants to make a group of people happy because it’s good for them.
- State Sen. Veronica Klinefelt, D-Eastpointe