BILL NUMBER: S4262B
SPONSOR: WEBB
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the highway law, in relation to designating a portion of
the state highway system as the "Peter Wheeler Memorial Bridge"
 
PURPOSE:
Designates a bridge on the state highway system in Lansing, NY as the
"Peter Wheeler Memorial Bridge"
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds new section 344-p to the Highway Law to require that a
portion of the state highway system be designated as the "Peter Wheeler
Memorial Bridge".
Section 2 requires the commissioner of transportation to provide for the
installation and maintenance of adequate signing of the state highway
system as designated pursuant to section one of this act.
Section 3 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The Town of Lansing wishes to honor Peter Wheeler, a slave that once
lived in Ludlowville in the early 1800s, by designating the newly
constructed bridge crossing Salmon Creek as the "Peter Wheeler Memorial
Bridge." The community believes it is not only important to remember the
story of Wheeler, but it is also important to remember the dark history
of slavery in the community. While Peter Wheeler was not the only slave
in Tompkins County, there is an extensive narrative of what his life was
like as a slave in Ludlowville, New York.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.