Interstate 15 Tony Gwynn Memorial Freeway proposal

[andy3175]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/oct/24/tony-gwynn-highway-signs-memorial/

Local officials are moving closer to renaming a portion of Interstate 15 the "Tony Gwynn Memorial Freeway."

The county board of supervisors on Tuesday is expected to approve allocating $7,452 to the California Department of Transportation to construct and install two freeway memorial signs to honor the greatest Padre. The state legislature must still approve the plan.

Earlier hopes of renaming a portion of Ted Williams Parkway after Gwynn have been dashed because of the high cost of replacing dozens of freeway signs.

Instead, a section of I-15 between the West Bernardo Road/Pomerado Road exit in the north to the Scripps-Poway Parkway exit to the south, will be named after the great hitter.

According to Supervisor Ron Roberts in his proposal to the board, the signs will "commemorate Mr. Padre along a route that he drove thousands of times between his home and his job for 20 years with the Padres and, subsequently, for 12 seasons as the head baseball coach for the San Diego State University Aztecs baseball team."

Gwynn, who died on June 16 from cancer, lived in Poway for nearly 30 years. The City of Poway is also planning on honoring Gwynn, probably by renaming a ballfield at Lake Poway after him and erecting some sort of permanent memorial.

The I-15 signs will be similar to many that dot the local freeway and highway landscape.