By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – What once was called Diamond Star Parkway is now Mitsubishi Motorway, and with the backing of local governments, a section of U.S. Route 150 will soon be called Rivian Motorway.

With government approval, a service road will also be changed from Sakura Lane to Electric Avenue, not because of Eddy Grant’s 1980’s hit tune, but because electric trucks and sport utility vehicles are expected to roll off Rivian Assembly lines later this year.

Rivian has attracted Amazon and Ford Motor Company has investors, and company executives believe potential investors will be impressed if they see the factory is located on Rivian Motorway, according to a staff report to the Normal Town Council.

Town council members are expected to consider the changes Monday night, to be followed by the Bloomington City Council, and McLean County Board.

The board which oversees McLean County’s 911 emergency service would then have the final say, according to Normal City Manager Pam Reece.

“If all three jurisdictions approve it, the final approval would be ETSB, the Emergency Telephone System Board, because the emergency system has to acknowledge a name change of a road,” said Reece.

The staff’s report indicates three land owners who attended a community meeting with Rivian are okay with the change.

“Changing the name of your road does cause some inconvenience for folks,” said Reece.

“Certainly, you have to go through changing your mailing address and such, and a number of things. So, that’s why we wanted to talk to neighbors about it,” Reece also said.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]