GARFIELD COUNTY, Utah — A move to rename southern Utah roadways after President Donald Trump has failed after the Garfield County Commission voted against the motion on Monday.
County Commissioner Leland Pollock, who proposed the motion, was the only member of the commission who voted in favor of renaming the Burr Trail Scenic Backway to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Burr Trail Backway.
Following a public hearing, two other commissioners, Jerry Taylor and David Tebbs, voted against the motion, which also could have renamed Johns Valley Road to Scenic Byway 12 as the Donald J. Trump Presidential Highway.
The Burr Trail Scenic Backway connects Boulder to Highway 276.
While the majority of residents in Garfield County voted for Trump, renaming the roads for the president was a bit too much for many. An online petition had already gathered 1,200 signatures to preserve the historic Burr Trail name.
"I feel way better," admitted 15-year-old Tuxzyn Burr Hathway, a descendent of the man whom the road is named after. "When [the commissioners] both said no, I started clapping and I almost cried.
Pollock had said his proposal would give local leaders a chance to tell the president they feel like he's helped them, referring to Trump's downsizing of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Taylor and Tebbs said they weren't against Trump as much as keeping the pioneer names, and left open the possibility of naming something else in the county for the president.
