DETROIT (CelebrityAccess) — Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed a bill paving the way for the state to name a stretch of highway in the name of Aretha Franklin.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the legislation will see a portion of states Lodge Freeway in Detroit renamed as the “Aretha L. Franklin Memorial Highway.”
In a statement, Governor Whitmore said the measure was intended to honor Franklin’s “creativity and voice contributed to our musical and cultural history in Michigan.”
Some Democratic state reps lauded the bill, noting that it seemed an appropriate way to honor a homegrown music legend, while some Republican detractors said such honors should be reserved for military veterans and first responders, the Free Press reported.
Franklin died in Detroit in 2018 after battling pancreatic cancer.
The stretch of highway was previously named for John C. Lodge, a former state legislator who helped to write the state’s constitution.
