And fair enough. People of far less fame and consequence have local schools, libraries, beaches and so on named for them. Give the woman her due!I balked at the proposal to rechristen Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park for Byrne it's had that name since the 1920s when the Buckingham family funded its construction. But most of the other ideas that gained currency, such as putting her name on the ballroom at Navy Pier or the international terminal at O'Hare International Airport, seemed appropriate.Indeed the idea of dedicating the plaza at Water Tower Park for the former mayor,Pierwsze zwycięstwo Legii, Pogoń gromi Śląsk, an idea signed off on by her daughter,Gold Coast forward Tom Lynch , Kathy Byrne, according to a Sun-Times column last week, seemed a bit too modest. Bigger than a commemorative plaque, but still ...The column also noted that Gov. Pat Quinn announced that he intends to change the name of the Circle Interchange, just southwest of downtown, to the Jane Byrne Interchange."The interchange will remind people across Illinois of Jane Byrne's contributions to the city of Chicago and for her dedication to public service and the people who live there," said a statement provided by the governor's office.The interchange serves the function of a cloverleaf intersection, joining Interstate 90-94 (the Dan Ryan and Kennedy expressways) with Interstate 290 (the Eisenhower Expressway). The name Circle as well as the nickname, "the spaghetti bowl" comes from the graceful arcs of the roadways as seen from above. Simple. Evocative. Locally unambiguous.The interchange was completed in 1962, but there's no mention in the Tribune archives of a formal dedication. Our first reference to the Circle Interchange July 1967 as well as other early print references had it in lower case, suggesting, as the governor's office believes, that the name is simply a colloquialism that stuck.When the University of Illinois opened a Chicago campus just west of the interchange in the mid-1960s, officials named it the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (though they dropped the "Circle" part in 1982).Commuters listening to their car radios hear references to the Circle dozens of times a week as traffic reporters use it as a reference point for travel times "the Circle to 95th," "the Circle to the junction,Trial witness tells of Walter," and so on.If Gov. Quinn has his way, after he formally issues a renaming proclamation by the end of the summer, these same reporters will saying "the Byrne to 95th" and "the Byrne to the junction."I hope he reconsiders.The Circle is not only iconic now, after more than 50 years of use, but it's also descriptive.Calling this major tangle of roads the Byrne is an outsized honor, if I may be blunt, for a one-term mayor. I hope that, if Quinn doesn't reconsider, he at least puts the idea to a vote of the General Assembly. Though Quinn spokeswoman Katie Hickey says the governor has the unilateral power to make such a change via proclamation, I'd argue that such a move tramples our democratic ideals.And I hope that if he rams this name change down our civic gullet, we choke on it and spit it back out.Yes, I know, "it will always be (insert old name here) to me!" defiance has a terrible track record. Despite the ragings and railings of traditionalists, old-timers and stubborn people of all ages, Crawford Avenue became Pulaski Road, Marshall Field's became Macy's, Sears Tower became Willis Tower, Comiskey Park became U.S. Cellular Field,Exclusive True Religion Jeans, Rosemont Horizon became Allstate Arena, Forest Preserve National Golf Course became George W. Dunne Golf Course and Driving Range, and so on.But this time it could be different. And I'm looking at you, traffic reporters.