RUMFORD – One street has already been renamed, and previously unnamed camp roads now have names as well.
Such actions taken by selectmen last Thursday are most likely the first of many street name changes, thanks to the efforts by the Rumford Fire Department and the addressing officer to consistently name and number the town’s more than 150 streets.
The name changes and a proposed addressing ordinance are needed to bring the town into enhanced E911 emergency response compliance.
“Several times over the years, all emergency agencies have responded to an incorrect address,” Bill Johnston, the Fire Department’s addressing officer, said Friday. “Nothing life-threatening yet.”
The town has had E911 ability since 1998, he said. Telephone numbers pop up on the screen of the emergency dispatcher at the Oxford County Regional Communications Center in Paris, as do addresses, sometimes, although not necessarily the correct ones. The appropriate emergency vehicle from the town of the call is then dispatched.
But because of Rumford’s inconsistent street addresses, the fact that some street names sound similar, and because odd and even numbers are not necessarily consistent on one side of a street, response time can be increased.
“This is a major problem,” said Johnston. “This will be a large inconvenience, but will result in better safety.”
The Fire Department was made aware of inconsistent street names and numbers when the town had its tax maps redone last year, Chief John Woulfe said Friday. Many address discrepancies were found in the databases of the Board of Assessors, the Fire Department, the post office, the mapping company and Verizon.
Woulfe said an addressing ordinance is necessary to spell out how new streets would be named.
“There’s a lot of development coming into town that needs addresses,” he said.
Johnston estimated that more than half of the town’s addresses will be changed over the next year or two, with the majority of those having house number changes.
At Thursday’s board meeting, selectmen approved changing Franklin Annex to Francis Road, and giving all camp roads a lane designation.
Among the street names that almost certainly will be changed are either Blanchard Street or Blanchard Road; all but one of Hall Street, Hall Avenue, Hall Road and Hall Hill Road; either East Red Hill Road or Red Hill Road; and either East Andover Road of Andover Road, said Johnston and Woulfe. There are many others, as well.
When the project is completed, Johnston said there will also be at least a dozen new roads with new names.
The proposed ordinance will likely come to voters at the annual town meeting, Town Manager Steve Eldridge said Friday. Johnston and Woulfe had requested a special town meeting to adopt the ordinance, but Woulfe said the department can work on the name and number changes prior to approval.
In the meantime, Johnston and Woulfe will bring name change proposals to selectmen on a monthly basis. Woulfe said residents of streets being renamed will receive letters explaining the changes before they are acted on..
Johnston said he welcomes suggestions for renaming streets that sound similar to other streets.
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