ROANOKE RAPIDS – An eight-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in North Carolina was dedicated Wednesday to G.K. Butterfield, a Wilson native who served in Congress from 2004 to 2022 after a distinguished judicial career.

Butterfield was joined by his family and friends and numerous constituents and local officials from his former First Congressional district, particularly in Halifax and Northampton counties.  Several hundred people attended the ceremony inside the Weldon Mills Theatre along I-95.

The speakers who took turns honoring Butterfield included Attorney General Josh Stein; U.S. Rep. Don Davis; and Anthony Foxx, who was the U.S. Department of Secretary under President Obama, and Joey Hopkins, the secretary of the N.C. Department of Transportation. Hopkins said the highway designation was fitting, because Butterfield has been a long-time champion for better transportation.

“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.

Butterfield was a civil rights attorney and later a judge before he retired from the bench to pursue politics in 2004. During his time representing northeastern North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives, Butterfield was known for his support of civil rights, small and disadvantaged businesses, clean energy and transportation. 

Before he left office, Butterfield supported the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is helping the NCDOT fund transportation projects, and he helped secure a $10 million federal grant to upgrade a historical highway corridor in Wilson.

The N.C. Board of Transportation unanimously approved a resolution last year to dedicate the I-95 section from the Virginia state line to Exit 173 as “Congressman G K Butterfield Highway,” after a request came from the county commissioners in Halifax and Northampton counties.

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