President Trump/Screenshot by White House YouTube

Senator John Cornyn has introduced a bill to designate US 287 as Interstate 47, in honor of President Donald Trump.

The highway, which runs from Montana to the Texas coast, connects Amarillo to both Denver and Fort Worth.

“Texas is Trump Country,” said Cornyn on X. He further stated that the bill designates “nearly 1,800 miles of open road to forever be known as the Trump Interstate.”

A state bill to study upgrading the portion of US 287 in Texas to an interstate died in 2017. Portions of US 287 between Amarillo and Denver are already included in the proposed “Ports to Plains” expansion of Interstate 27.

Cornyn’s bill would simply designate the highway as future Interstate 47. It would not fund the upgrades that would be needed to bring the highway to the standards of the Interstate Highway System.

The move comes just weeks before Cornyn is set to face challenger and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a runoff which could cost Cornyn his seat in the senate. Both Cornyn and Paxton have been hoping to earn an endorsement from President Trump, though he has not yet made one.

Some who are backing Paxton have already criticized the idea, including activist Scott Presler, who called the move “the single most desperate thing I think we’ve witnessed this cycle.”

Whichever candidate wins the runoff will face Democrat James Talarico, Libertarian Ted Brown, and several independent candidates on the November ballot.