Highway 169 signage recognizing the "Senator David J. Tomassoni Memorial Cross Range Expressway" installed
DULUTH, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Transportation has installed signage recognizing Highway 169 between Itasca County Road 69 in Marble and St. Louis County Road 7 in Mountain Iron as the "Senator David J. Tomassoni Memorial Cross Range Expressway."
The Minnesota State Legislature passed bills to designate the highway section in May 2024. Tomassoni, from Chisholm, served in the Legislature for three decades, starting in the House in 1993. He was elected to the Senate in 2000 and served until months before his death in August 2022, about one year after announcing he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. During his career, Senator Tomassoni made safe roads and transportation a priority for his constituents and this memorial is a fitting tribute.
Upon passage of the bill, colleagues in the legislature said it was fitting to name the road after Tomassoni and acknowledged that a longtime plan to turn the two-lane road into a four-lane road would not have come to fruition without his determination.
The Tomassoni family will recognize the installation of the signage at a future date.
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