A new dog park underneath the Selmon Expressway was dedicated in honor of Deputy John Kotfila Jr. who died on the Selmon Expressway in March 2016.
Kotfila ran head-on into a wrong-way, impaired driver to prevent them from smashing into other vehicles on the road.
The large ceremony this morning did not involve a gun salute or other standard honors for a fallen law enforcement officers. It was more of a light-hearted affair. That Is how friends and family say Kotfila would have liked it.
"The Selmon Expressway has always been known as where he was killed and having this memory now, it's comforting to have a kinder, gentler way to look at the expressway." Terry Kotfila, Deputy Kotfila's mother, said.
The Expressway Authority says they always planned to build a dog park, but after the tragedy and learning about Deputy Kotfila'slove for his own dog, they pushed the project up and named it in his honor.
The park cost $544,000 to construct. The project was funded by money made from tolls.