State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, provides testimony before the Senate Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in support of his legislation to honor the life and legacy of Medio J. Bacco, an innovator and pioneer in Michigan’s road-building industry. Senate Bill 53 would designate a portion of US 8 from the Michigan-Wisconsin border to the intersection with US-2 in the city of Norway as the “Medio J. Bacco Memorial Highway.” (Photo courtesy of state Sen. Ed McBroom)

LANSING — An Upper Peninsula road building pioneer will be honored through a named highway designation, if state Sen. Ed McBroom has anything to say about it.

McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, recently testified before the state Senate Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in support of his legislation to commemorate the life of an influential and innovative member of Michigan’s road-building industry, Medio Bacco. McBroom’s bill, Senate Bill 53, would designate a portion of US 8 from the Michigan-Wisconsin border to the intersection with US-2 in the city of Norway as the “Medio J. Bacco Memorial Highway.”

“The contributions and innovations of Medio Bacco quite literally helped build our state,” said McBroom, R-Waucedah Township. “This section of road on US-8 was not only Medio’s first paving project but was also the first section of paved highway in the UP.”

Bacco, (1889-1983), was an Italian immigrant who traveled to the United States, eventually settling in Iron Mountain. He began a career in area mines and became a successful entrepreneur in the road-building, construction and gravel industries. Bacco was also a 2015 inductee into the Michigan Construction Hall of Fame. He founded the Bacco Construction Company in 1915, which grew to be Michigan’s oldest pre-qualified contractor for the Michigan Department of Transportation

“The Legislature has passed a number of highway memorial bills over the years, but this one is unique in that the road is being memorialized in the name of the person who built it,” McBroom said. “It’s a tremendous and fitting way to honor not only this milestone accomplishment, but also his philanthropy, innovation and dedication to his community and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.”