Lawmaker: Re-name stretch of ‘desolate’ highway after Riley
One day after the University of Oklahoma officially introduced its new head football coach, a state senator took a parting shot at the team’s previous leader.
Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, requested a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would name the last 3 inches of State Highway 325’s westbound lane “Lincoln Riley Highway.”
An Oklahoma State University fan, Coleman said in a news release that it was appropriate to name the “tiniest section of our most desolate highway” after Riley to “honor” the unceremonious departure of the former coach.
“While we are all free to pursue employment elsewhere, there is a level of professionalism that is expected to be adhered to,” Coleman said in a statement. “From all indications, professionalism was pretty much absent in how this departure was executed.”
Despite Riley’s success at Oklahoma, which included a run of six straight Big 12 titles and three College Football Playoff appearances, his teams were 0-3 in playoff semifinal games.
State Highway 325 is in Cimarron County and runs from Boise City to Kenton before turning into New Mexico State Highway 456.
It is unheard of for the Oklahoma Legislature, which is in charge of naming state highways, to give a memorial designation to just a few inches of road.
The bill request appears to be more of a joke than a serious attempt at legislation. However, it’s not uncommon for the Legislature to get creative when naming state highways.
This year, the GOP-controlled Legislature approved legislation to name a stretch of highway in the Panhandle after former President Donald Trump.
The 20-mile stretch of road named after the former Republican president ends in Boise City.