TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida senator has filed a bill to change a stretch of U.S. Highway 41 known as the Tamiami Trail to the “Gulf of America Trail.”
The bill filed by Sen. Joe Gruter, R-Sarasota, comes following an executive order from President Donald Trump calling for the Gulf to be renamed — at least for those living in the United States.
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Google Maps and many U.S. federal and state agencies have since complied with the order, adopting the term “Gulf of America.” But the Tamiami Trail could be the first major roadway in line for a name change.
Named for the two major cities that it connects, the Tamiami Trail spans 284 miles, starting in Tampa and then crossing through Naples and the Everglades before ending in Miami.
According to the bill’s text, it would rename “the portion of U.S. 41 between S.R. 60 and U.S. 1 in Miami-Dade, Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee, and Hillsborough counties.” The Department of Transportation would then be directed to erect markers designating the trail’s new name.
The idea for the trans-peninsula highway came about in 1915 as a way to increase tourism in South Florida. It took several years and lots of money, but the opening of the Tamiami Trail in 1928 was considered a monumental event.
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Gruter’s proposed bill also would require state agencies, county school districts and charter school boards to use teaching materials that reflect the name “Gulf of America.”
The bill will be up for debate during the upcoming legislative session, which begins next week. If passed, it would take effect on July 1.
