Placenames: Recent Additions

Quentin Kopp Freeway

On August 29th, the State Senate approved SCR 97, which  designates the interchange at Hazel Avenue and Highway 50 in Sacramento County as the Senator Dave Cox Memorial Interchange.

Also on August 29th, the Secretary of State chaptered SCR 79, which designates the portion of Highway 1 that runs between Coil Street and the east side of the main entrance to the Tesoro Refinery, in the community of Wilmington, as the Honorable Jenny Oropeza Memorial Overcrossing.

Both legislators died in 2010.

On August 31st, SCR 93 was enrolled, which designated the Randy Sanchez Memorial Bridge and the John Burton Highway. Although it’s certainly not the first time a highway has been named for a living person (Bill Bagley, John Foran, and Jim Costa all have highways) it was the first time in my records that a resolution naming a freeway after a legislator also included a second person.

Additional Note: SCR 93, the Burton resolution, was opposed by 17 members on the Assembly Floor, which might be the most ever. Most resolutions naming freeways after legislators pass without a single NO vote (like ACR 102 of 2002 which named the Jim Costa Highway or SCR 103 of 2008 which named the Chuck Poochigian Highway) and a quick review of previous legislator-highway resolutions failed to turn up as many as SCR 93. Recently, Assemblyman Chris Norby (who is opposed to these “naming” resolutions) has provided a consistent NO vote. The Cox and Oropeza resolutions each received their single NO votes from Norby.