Dalton ponders new street names

DALTON, Ga. — Take a left on Bamboo Street might be an actual direction here later this year.

Officials trying to name or rename about 75 streets in the city say it’s a daunting task.

“When you already have over 3,500 road names in the county, finding additional names that are unique and do not sound alike can be a challenge,” said Jess Hansen, Whitfield County’s global information system coordinator.

Bamboo Street is a proposed name for East Ezard Avenue at South Hamilton Street. The need for a new name for that portion of East Ezard comes because a nearby separate portion of East Ezard Avenue is not connected to the portion at South Hamilton Street, said Capt. Jeff Dugger with the Dalton Fire Department, one of the leaders of Dalton’s portion of a countywide readdressing project.

Whitfield County hired the engineering firm GeoComm for $500,000 to mastermind the project, which the firm began in early 2008 to improve road names and addresses to reduce confusion and response time for emergency workers.

The Dalton City Council approved a readdressing ordinance Monday night that lays out the city’s plan to name unnamed private drives with three or more structures on them and rename and readdress confusing street names and addresses.

The Dalton Fire Department is leading the effort to tackle the city’s portion of the transportation clarification.

Dalton’s ordinance originally allowed people affected by address changes to appeal to the City Council, but the council amended the ordinance to move the appeal process to the city fire chief or an official he designates. Capt. Dugger said officials will solicit input from neighborhoods affected in the street-naming process.

“Total dictatorship over this is not our intent,” he said. “We’re trying to use all due processes.”