A former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and long-time Congressman now has a road named after him in the city of Peoria. City officials unveiled the so-called Honorary Secretary Ray LaHood Roadway at the intersection of Main and Monroe streets.
LaHood served as 18th District Congressman for 14-years before moving on to become the Secretary of Transportation under President Obama. LaHood says there’s no better place for the designation.
"This is Main Street. This is where we really tried to make a difference and whether its the Cancer Center up the street or the museum down the street, the riverfront, paying attention to the Illinois River...all of those things were part of my career and so I think it's an appropriate place to do it and I'm very humbled by it."
The honorary street in the city of Peoria likely won’t be the only designation LaHood receives. State Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth says she plans to introduce a measure in committee Tuesday naming a stretch of 1-74 after the former Secretary of Transportation.
If approved, a roughly six-mile stretch of highway from the Murray Baker Bridge to the Sterling Avenue exit would be dubbed the Ray LaHood Highway under the measure. That section of I-74 was rebuilt under a project LaHood pushed for while serving in Congress.