State Rep. Dan Branch
State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, has introduced a measure in the Texas House to change the name of North Central Expressway to George W. Bush Expressway.
Aside from it being confusing (George H.W. Bush Expressway already crosses North Central in Plano), a petition to stop the bill mentions preemptive wars, torture, corporate welfare and more as reasons to not name the road after him.
Branch’s district includes most of Downtown, Uptown and parts of Oak Lawn.
The road is named after the North Central Railroad that followed the route from Downtown Dallas before the original highway was built in the late 1940s.
On April 25, the George W. Bush Library opens at Southern Methodist University. As happened during the groundbreaking, a protest is planned during the ribbon cutting. According to the Huffington Post, protesters will be demanding Bush be held accountable for war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of U.S. and international law.
More than 15,000 people have already signed the petition on SignOn.org to stop the renaming of Central Expressway. The text of the petition against renaming Central is below.
State Representative Dan Branch has introduced House Bill 3520 which would rename 7 miles of US 75, or Central Expressway, in honor of George W Bush. Central is the main artery from downtown to the suburbs, named after the former railroad line that ran between downtown and historic Deep Ellum. To rename this historic stretch of road after a president who has done little if anything significant for this city ignores our local history and compromises our integrity. This is to say nothing of the pre-emptive wars, tortures, bailouts, corporate welfare, laws that invade our privacy, etc that were the hallmarks of his 8 years in office, W may live here now, but he does not represent our fair city. Sign this petition to preserve our cultural history and keep Central Expressway as is.
