A 17-mile stretch of U.S. 95 in Yuma has been renamed the Gary Knight Memorial Highway in honor of the late civic official and former Arizona State Transportation Board chairman.
The Arizona Department of Transportation installed signs marking the designation between mileposts 31 and 48, from eastern Yuma to the Yuma Proving Ground.
The Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names approved the naming earlier this year.
Local and state officials gathered Thursday for a dedication ceremony organized by the Yuma Metropolitan Planning Organization, which proposed the designation.
ADOT Director Jennifer Toth praised Knight’s decades of service during the event.
“I am pleased to honor Gary Knight’s service to Arizona and his commitment to enhancing transportation infrastructure not just in his community but across our state,” Toth said.
Knight, who died in April 2024, was serving his third term on the Yuma City Council and had previously been the city’s deputy mayor. He also served on the executive boards of the Yuma Metropolitan Planning Organization and Greater Yuma Port Authority.
Appointed to the State Transportation Board in 2018, Knight served as chairman before the end of his six-year term.
Other Arizona highways named for public figures include the Gov. Rose Mofford Memorial Highway — two stretches of U.S. 60 between Globe and Apache Junction — the Piestewa Freeway (State Route 51) and the Congressman Ed Pastor Freeway (Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway).