Harris County commissioners approve plan to dedicate the Grand Parkway to former Houston mayor Bob Lanier.[/caption] Plans to officially dedicate portions of the Grand Parkway to former Houston mayor Bob Lanier took a step forward June 14 when Harris County commissioners voted in support of the proposal. Lanier, who served as mayor from 1992-1996, died in December 2014 at age 89. He played a huge role in making the third freeway loop around the city possible, County Judge Ed Emmett said. Naming the Grand Parkway after him “makes all the sense in the world,” he added. “The Grand Parkway was, as far as I know, completely Bob Lanier’s idea,” Emmett said at the June 14 meeting. “He came and explained to me why we had to have this system. It was a concept that nobody had ever thought of.” The proposal to rededicate to parkway was organized by the Texas Department of Transportation in collaboration with local officials. Overhead signs will still read “State Highway 99/Grand Parkway,” but additional signs in Lanier’s memory will be erected on the side of the road, according to Danny Perez, public information officer with TxDOT’s Houston district. Private fundraising typically pays for these signs. While officials can personally support those campaigns, the county will not provide any funding for signs. Lanier’s wife Elyse expressed her appreciation of the court’s decision at the June 14 meeting. “It’s a real honor, and he would consider it such an honor,” she said. Perez said the official date of the rededication, among other details, is to be determined based on when commissioners of other affected counties approve the proposal. Other counties considering the measure include Fort Bend, Montgomery and Brazoria counties. Billy Burge, chairman of the Grand Parkway Association, the state-appointed board that oversees the project’s development, said he was a longtime friend of Lanier. He said the former mayor deserves to be recognized for providing a network of transportation that enhanced economic development in the area. “I hope people appreciate his dedication to transportation and to building [the Grand Parkway],” Burge said.