One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Plans To Rename Stretch Of L.A. Freeway For Obama Move Forward
(Base photo via Wikimedia Commons, President Obama photo via Twitter)
On Monday, the California State Senate voted near unanimously (official count: 35-to-1) to rename a section of the 134 Freeway for former President Obama.
The proposal, which was introduced by State Senator Anthony Portantino back in December, would rename the stretch of the 134 between Interstate 210 in Pasadena and State Route 2 in Glendale for America's 44th president. The stretch of freeway in question passes Eagle Rock, where Obama president attended Occidental College from 1979 to 1981 (he transferred to Columbia in 1981). Having sailed through the Senate, the proposal still has to be approved by the State Assembly before it becomes official.
The idea for an Obama freeway was actually brought to Portantino by community activists, who came up with it during a ceremony held last December during which the city of Pasadena commemorated Obama's college apartment with a plaque. "If someone comes up with a good idea, I'm going to run with it," Portantino told the L.A. Times at the time.
Here in Southern California, where car culture is a way of life, there are few honors grander than being granted one's very own stretch of freeway. There is already a section of State Route 118 in Simi Valley named for former President Ronald Reagan, and a portion of Route 90 in Yorba Linda named in honor of former President Richard Nixon.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
