The vote Friday to change the name of the city’s most iconic roadway came after months of intense and raucous debate that included accusations of racism over how best to honor Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, Chicago’s first non-native settler. 

Leaders of the group that launched the push to rename Lake Shore Drive say they will agree to a compromise plan to call the iconic roadway “DuSable Lake Shore Drive,” but Mayor Lightfoot has yet to endorse the proposal.

A vote to rename 17 miles of Lake Shore Drive for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, Chicago’s first permanent non-Indigenous settler, was delayed again Wednesday after the Chicago City Council erupted in acrimony over Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s pick to serve as the city’s top attorney.

City Council members are expected to vote on a proposal to rename Lake Shore Drive after Chicago's first non-Indigenous settler, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, after a parliamentary maneuver delayed the vote last month. We discussion that plan and other city business with four alderpeople.

While celebrating the full reopening of Chicago on Friday morning as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she does not support the push to rename Lake Shore Drive, again calling it an “iconic” name with national recognition.

Changing the addresses of the four museums could cost the institutions a significant amount of money and complicate their efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

Opponents of a plan to rename 17 miles of Lake Shore Drive for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, Chicago’s first permanent non-Indigenous settler, blocked a vote on the measure Wednesday, enraging supporters of the plan, who called the move racist. 

Renaming 17 miles of Lake Shore Drive for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, Chicago’s first permanent non-Indigenous settler, would be a massive undertaking without precedent in the city’s history, city officials told aldermen Thursday.

The man accused of shooting toddler Kayden Swann earlier this month allegedly fired multiple shots at the boy’s car from inside his own vehicle before getting out on foot onto Lake Shore Drive and firing several more rounds in broad daylight.

Deandre Binion, 25, has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated battery stemming from the April 6 shooting on the busy thoroughfare that struck 22-month-old Kayden Swann in the head.

Kayden Swann, the 22-month-old who was shot in the head while traveling in a car near Grant Park earlier this month, is breathing on his own and has been moved out of the intensive care unit, continuing what his doctors have called a “remarkable” recovery.

Jushawn Brown, 43, was charged Thursday with one count of unlawful use of a weapon following an apparent road rage incident earlier this week that left his grandson, 21-month-old Kayden Swann, critically injured by gunfire from another vehicle.

Police say a 21-month-old child remains hospitalized in critical condition following the shooting Tuesday morning near Grant Park. One person is currently being questioned in relation to the shooting.

Renaming 17 miles of Lake Shore Drive for Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, Chicago’s first permanent non-Indigenous settler, would be a massive undertaking without precedent in the city’s history, city officials told aldermen Friday.

Lake Shore Drive is iconic, but with that status comes aging infrastructure. Transportation officials have come up with potential ways to overhaul the Drive and they’re looking for feedback.

The number of cars on the road in recent weeks has dropped dramatically, but officials and analysts say those who are on the road may not be driving safely.