HOUSTON – Former mayor Bob Lanier left his mark on Houston while serving the city and now the Grand Parkway will bear his name across seven counties in his honor.  Â
Lanier, who died in 2014, served as the city's mayor in the 1990s and actually spearheaded the creation of the Grand Parkway, Houston's third freeway ring.
Billy Burge, Lanier's long-time friend and a former developer, got approval from state and city officials to rename completed sections of the 180-mile roadway as the Mayor Bob Lanier Memorial Parkway.
Burge and Lanier's wife Elyse told KPRC2 the roadway honor is a fitting tribute.
"To see something not happen in his lifetime, but it's happened in my lifetime -- to see it happen and knowing how hard he worked and so many others, and Billy taking this on after he (Lanier) has left -- it's very emotional, and it's very exciting," Elyse said.
We're told the Texas Department of Transportation will install a few more of the signs in the future once construction on the remaining portions of the tollway is complete.