Chicago

Anti-Violence March on Lake Shore Drive: See the Full Route

Editor's note: NBC Chicago will stream coverage of the event as it unfolds. Watch it live above this afternoon. 

Activists planned to march on Lake Shore Drive in protest of the city’s violence Thursday, shutting down traffic ahead of a Cubs game and on the first day of the popular Lollapalooza music festival.

The protest is set to disrupt traffic on the North Side - as fans make their way to Wrigley Field - in hopes of bringing attention to the violence taking place in other parts of Chicago.

While the route of the march has shifted over the course of the past week, the most recent plan was as follows: 

Organizers said Wednesday that particpants will meet near Belmont where they will enter Lake Shore Drive to begin the march at 4 p.m.

The plan was set to initially shut down the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive at the start of the afternoon rush hour, a method organizers were not ruling out. 

They will then march from Belmont Avenue to Clark Street, organizers said. 

The march will continue north on Clark Street before it reaches Wrigley Field at Addison Street. 

The goal of the march is to draw attention in various other parts of the city to the violence and lack of economic investment in predominately African-American communities.

In response to the planned protest, pedestrian barricades were placed around Clark and Addison, similar to what is put into place for playoff baseball games or other large-scale public events. [[489570661, C]]

Parking restrictions will also go into effect in many spots at 2 p.m. No parking will be allowed on Clark Street between Roscoe and Grace, on Addison Street from Halsted to Racine, on Patterson Avenue between Clark and Racine, as well as on Inner Lake Shore Drive from Briar to the southbound ramp off of Belmont, according to 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney. 

Those restrictions will remain in place through 10 p.m., Tunney said, adding that rolling street closures were expected and the Chicago Police Department, along with the Office of Emergency Management, would reroute and direct traffic as necessary. 

“CPD regularly works with event organizers to keep the public safe, and, as always, our goal is to keep the community safe on public thoroughfares,” the city said in a statement. “CPD will be in contact with the event organizers soon to talk through their plans and evaluate potential public safety impacts.”

The Cubs encouraged fans driving to the game to take “alternative routes or transportation to get to Wrigley Field” and to “avoid Lake Shore Drive.”

“We’re looking forward to an exciting game against the Padres and will work with CPD to ensure all fans are able to enter and exit the ballpark safely,” the team said in a statement.

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