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During the recent debate about changing the street name of
Campbell Avenue to McGaw Drive, Kincardine council referred to
the fact that it would improve response times by emergency
services. And, in fact, council is now considering the idea of
changing all of Campbell Avenue, south and north of Russell
Street, to McGaw Drive because there is a Campbell Crescent in
Kincardine as well.
Kincardine fire chief Jamie MacKinnon says that while duplicate
street names are as big a concern now as they were 10 years ago,
similar names are not a major issue. When the 911 emergency
system was first implemented about a decade ago in the
Municipality of Kincardine, many street names were changed
because the identical name was in use somewhere else in the
municipality. For example, there were two King Streets, two
Queen Streets, two Albert Streets.
MacKinnon points out that 'similar' refers to road names that
are the same but differentiated by a prefix or suffix. "The 911
system accepts these similarities, ideal or not," he says.
"Most, if not all, the duplicate names within the municipality
have been changed," says MacKinnon. "Streets that are similar
but not duplicate, such as Campbell Avenue and Campbell
Crescent, are different enough that potential confusion would be
minimal. Road name changes that have occurred since 911 was
implemented were done to help avoid confusion and still maintain
local existing names when possible." (next column)
29/01/2009 09:39 PM
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Council has also considered leaving Campbell Avenue,
north of Russell Street, but the section south of Russell Street would
become McGaw Drive.
MacKinnon says different street names across an intersection does not
affect response by emergency services because 911 mapping reflects the
actual property locations. "However, consistency in the addressing
process is a good thing and this is a decision by the council of each
municipality," he says.
The GIS (Geographic Information System) is used to help locate
properties for emergency response, says MacKinnon. "Road names that are
similar still create the opportunity for mistakes when inputting queries
into a computer database/search program," he adds. "Completely different
names for different roads in the municipality, as opposed to similar
names, help prevent confusion and would be ideal in an ideal world."
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