Residents of Shelburne, Massachusetts, will vote early next month to petition the state to change more than a dozen road names in the town. The goal is to eliminate confusion for first responders.
Shelburne’s Select Board said some of the road names used by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation are different from the names on road signs or the names locals use.
Robert Manners is a Shelburne selectman and captain of the town’s volunteer Fire Department. He recalled an incident a few years ago when fire fighters from Charlemont were trying to get to a fire in Shelburne to assist and they had trouble finding the road because of confusion over its name.
“It becomes a distraction…to take our focus away from the emergency at hand to give directions to get people to us for additional help,” Manners said.
Still, Manners said the incidents involving road names have not led to increased injury or property loss.
If the road names are changed, some residents will have to update their addresses on a number of documents — such as mortgages and drivers licenses.