Two county commissions in North Carolina are pushing to honor a Department of Transportation worker who died on the job in March by naming a stretch of the highway he was killed on after him.
According to The News and Observer, the Wayne County Commissioners passed a resolution to ask the NCDOT to reserve a section of the US 70 bypass after Greg Bailey. The nearby Johnston County Commissioners echoed Wayne County with a letter to the NCDOT.
Bailey was working in a median of US 70 on March 23 when he was hit by a vehicle. The driver of the other car failed a field sobriety test at the scene and was charged with DWI.
Bailey’s community rallied behind his wife and twin 18-month-old daughters following his death, raising more than $50,000 through an online fundraising website. Officials from the two North Carolina counties say this is one more way to honor Bailey.
The NCDOT’s rules state someone must be dead for at least one year before a highway can be named after them. So, the counties chose to ask the state to simply reserve a section that can be named officially for Bailey after the year has passed.
“If you’re going to name a highway after somebody, this is the kind of guy you want,” Johnston County Board of Commissioners Chairman Tony Braswell said.
