Section of U.S. 441 in Alachua County may be named for Petty

In his early hit “American Girl,” Tom Petty sang about a girl who stood on a balcony where “she could hear the cars roll by out on 441.”

Soon, a girl standing on that same balcony might hear cars rolling by on the Tom Petty Memorial Highway.

The Tampa Bay Times reported Monday that state Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, has filed a proposal to name U.S. 441, between West University Avenue and SW 16th Avenue in Gainesville, after the late musician, a Gainesville native.

The mile-long stretch of road is most commonly called SW 13th Street.

Petty died Oct. 2 at age 66. The last song he performed in concert, about a week before, was “American Girl,” the second single off the 1977 album “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Section of U.S. 441 in Alachua County may be named for Petty."