Will the Bill Pass to Name a Highway After a Minnesota Icon?

There are a few things that are definitely Minnesota.  Things that everyone knows are Minnesota.  Like the Mall of America, the choking Vikings (can we please get over that one), cold winters, and Prince Rogers Nelson. Otherwise known as just a single name... Prince.

There has been talk for a few years since his death in 2016 that there should be a road named after him near Paisley Park in Chanhassen.

The bill that has been introduced would name the part of Highway 5 that runs in front of Paisley Park in Chanhassen would be named Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway and the road signs would be purple.

The bill has passed one step.  There are a few more that it has to go through.  One of the issues is the name of the highway has already been named for someone else.

From Bring Me the News:

one problem the bill faced was that the highway was already named after former Minnesota House member August “Augie” Mueller, who died in 1996.

But the station says an amendment made at Thursday's hearing "stopped Mueller’s designation at the city limits of Chanhassen," clearing the way for the bill to proceed. 

This bill has at least three more steps to go through before it would come to fruition.  But there is definitely a pull to make this happen.

“Prince brought people together not only through his music, but through his advocacy of public library access, education, civil rights, and more,” Rep. Lucy Rehm (DFL-Chanhassen) said in a news release. “It’s a tremendous privilege to work with Minnesotans and all the advocates to recognize and honor Prince’s contributions to our state, our country, and the world.”

Personally, as a Prince fan, I would love to see this happen.  Especially when people who are fans of Prince come to visit and tour Paisley Park, it just adds to the iconic set. The whole area would be dedicated to Prince, who continued to live in his home state.  That doesn't happen that often. There have been several actors and other famous people who have originally been Minnesotans, and they all move away.  Too cold?  Too many mosquitoes? Not enough paparazzi?  Ok, that last one was a joke.  But they do all seem to move out of the state.  Prince kept his main home base in his home state.