SARASOTA, Fla. ( WWSB ) - Residents on Longboat Key are seeing state workers remove roadway signs referencing the Gulf of Mexico, since a new state law was passed earlier this year.

The Town of Longboat Key, however says the main road through the key, State Road 789, is still Gulf of Mexico Drive -- for now.

As a result of House Bill 549, the Florida Department of Transportation is in the process of removing roadway signs that reference the “Gulf of Mexico” in the Town of Longboat Key.

The new law reads, in part, “All references in Florida statutes, official documents, maps, and publications that formerly named the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ shall hereafter refer to that body of water as the ‘Gulf of America.’”

The town, in a news release, reminds residents the new law does not formally change

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