ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. (WAVY) — Interstate 95 from the Virginia line to Exit 273 in Roanoke Rapids is now named in honor of former North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield.

The Democrat represented the 1st Congressional District from 2004 to 2022, and served as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He announced he would not seek reelection in 2021 at the age of 74. He previously was a longtime civil rights attorney and judge.

“This highway is the Main Street for the East Coast,” said Melvin Mitchell, the area’s representative of the N.C. Board of Transportation, in a release. “Now, everyone who travels on it will see Congressman Butterfield’s name.”

NCDOT says several hundred people, including numerous officials from Halifax and Northampton counties, attended a ceremony Wednesday inside the Weldon Mills Theatre along I-95 to dedicate the eight-mile stretch.

Speakers included Rep. Don Davis, who succeeded Butterfield, Attorney General Josh Stein and N.C. Department of Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins.

“Moving people and goods safely and efficiently is at the core of what we do, and for Congressman Butterfield, he has made it his mission to improve the lives of all North Carolinians,” Hopkins said.

NCDOT noted that Butterfield supported President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law before leaving Congress, which helped fund many North Carolina transportation projects. He also helped secure a $10 million federal grant to upgrade a historical highway corridor in Wilson.

NCDOT says it unanimously approved a resolution to dedicate the stretch of I-95 last year, after a request from county commissioners in Halifax and Northampton counties.