Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive, and called DuSable Lake Shore Drive, The Outer Drive, The Drive, LSD or DLSD) is an expressway that runs alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and adjacent to parkland and beaches, in Chicago. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue (5200 North), Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S. Highway 41. A portion of the expressway on the Outer Drive Bridge and its bridge approaches is multilevel.
View of Lake Shore Drive taken from the Rubloff building, near the Lake Michigan shoreline | |
Original portion of Lake Shore Drive in red 2013 extension in dark green | |
| Part of | US 41 / LMCT |
|---|---|
| Length | 15.83 mi (25.48 km) (Original 1937 section only; not including the 2013 extension) |
| South end | Marquette Drive and Jeffery Drive (6600 South) |
| North end | Hollywood Avenue (5700 North) |
| Construction | |
| Completion | 1937 |
| Inauguration | 1946 |
Previously, from the Chicago River south to 57th Street, it was named Leif Ericson Drive in 1927, for Norse explorer Leif Ericson. The roadway was also nicknamed Field Boulevard. The entire road was renamed Lake Shore Drive in 1946, and its scenic views of the waterfront, beaches, parks, towers and high-rises have become symbolic of Chicago.
On June 25, 2021, the Chicago City Council approved a compromise ordinance renaming the outer portion of Lake Shore Drive for the city's first non-indigenous settler, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable.
The Lakefront Trail, an 18-mile (29 km) multi-use trail, parallels Lake Shore Drive on the east side for most of its length. Pedestrians can access the lake at several points along Lake Shore Drive through underpasses and overpasses that connect the lake with the rest of the city.