ATLANTA -- For 30 years, Representative John Lewis's name has been synonymous with civil rights and politics in Atlanta.
But despite being on murals and even a school, Lewis hadn't yet had his name adorn a green street sign - one of the city's favorite ways to honor historic legacies.
That changed on Wednesday, though, when his moniker was added to a road built on a compromise he helped shepherd.
Freedom Parkway began as a very different idea
Freedom Parkway was born decades ago out of controversy. It began as what was then known as the Presidential Parkway project that was supposed to go all the way to Stone Mountain.
But that would have meant displacing many residents in the area and bulldozing historic homes. Then-councilman Lewis was one of the project's biggest opponents and a strong voice behind the compromise that followed.
"It's like coming back home," Lewis said during the new unveiling on Wednesday. "During another period, I was one of the people who protested against the four-lane highway coming through this historic district, and we saved a lot of trees and a lot of homes and this is a wonderful neighborhood."
PHOTOS: Scenes from John Lewis Freedom Parkway unveiling
Freedom Parkway: Then and now
Plaques along Freedom Parkway now tell the tale of what his compromise became: A highway split by green space that runs from the Carter Center all the way to the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site.
"This day is a beautiful day that I've been thinking about for the last year and a half," Atlanta City Councilman Andre Dickens said.
Dickens and fellow city leaders formed a task force over a year ago with the goal of renaming the well-known local highway.
Now, a generation after that compromise, a man who holds the dual titles of civil rights and political leader will have his name added to a roadway connecting sites with strong ties to Martin Luther King and President Jimmy Carter.
The city held the official unveiling of John Lewis Freedom Parkway at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
