- Sen. John Cornyn proposed renaming a highway from Texas to Montana as Interstate 47.
- Trump endorsed the senator's primary opponent Ken Paxton in the Texas GOP senate race.
- The proposed "Trump Interstate" runs through Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced legislation last week that would rename a highway that stretches 1,800 miles from Port Charles, Texas, north to Choteau, Montana, after Donald Trump.
The bill titled I-47 Future Interstate Act and co-sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., stipulates that U.S. Route 287 would become “I-47,” or the “Trump Interstate.”
That stretch of the Strategic Highway Network extends up from Texas, across a relatively short stretch of the Oklahoma panhandle, and then travels north through Colorado and Wyoming. Before leaving the “Equality State” and heading up to the Canadian border through Montana, it travels through both Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.
“Texas is Trump Country, and this bill cements that legacy by designating nearly 1,800 miles of open-road from Texas’ Gulf Coast to the edge of the U.S.-Canadian border as I-47 to forever be remembered as Trump Interstate,” Cornyn said in a statement.
“By upgrading one of our nation’s longest highways to a future interstate, this legislation will increase economic growth and improve safety, all while honoring the most consequential president of our lifetime.”
One week later, Trump did not endorse Cornyn in the Texas senatorial primary election. Despite other GOP senators pleading on Cornyn’s behalf, Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose career has been punctuated by alleged scandals and several acquittals.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that “John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough.”
Meantime, “Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to WIN. Our Country needs Fighters, and also Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness,” Trump wrote.
What national parks would the interstate run through?
In Wyoming, the highway travels across a large stretch of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It includes the northernmost stretch of highway in Grand Teton National Park that runs through the Bridger-Teton National Forest up into the South Entrance of Yellowstone.
The road in that area is already known as the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, named the man who donated to the federal government the land that became Grand Teton National Park.
Lummis told Cowboy State Daily in a statement that she thought that updating the heavily traveled road would benefit her home state.
“I’m always looking for ways to upgrade Wyoming’s roads, and U.S. 287 should be at the top of the list,” Lummis said. “Naming it in honor of President Trump seemed only fitting, considering his love for rebuilding America’s roads and infrastructure.”
Not just changing the name
Upgrading a highway to an interstate is a major overhaul of the infrastructure that comes with a number of benefits and costs.
According to Cornyn’s statement, the Texas Department of Transportation did a feasibility study of the idea and found that the upgrades would result in more than $5 billion in travel cost savings, add nearly 50,000 jobs and increase Texas’s state GDP by $11 billion, which he said would be a “161% return on investment.”
Currently, 8.8 million Texans live within the study area, and the number is projected to rise to 12 million, representing 28% of the state’s population, by 2050.
No specific road upgrades are outlined in the legislation.