During Monday’s Cleveland City Council meeting, Dr. Luke Queen said he felt it would reduce confusion if the name of Industrial Access Road S.E., was changed to Life Bridges Lane.
“We’re the only industry on that street and we think it is confusing to have two streets with the same name.” he said.
During the ensuing discussion among Council members, city manager Janice Casteel said the dead end street is in the city, but there are five duplexes in the county.
“The entire street is in the city and for 911 purposes, I would think you would want the entire length of the road with the same name,” she said.
Part of the confusion is Newly Wed Foods is located off Industrial Drive S.W., at 187 Industrial Lane S.W., which comes to a dead on the west side of the railroad tracks and Old Chattanooga Pike.
The street picks up on the east side of the tracks as an offshoot of Old Chattanooga Pike and adjacent to Life Bridges. The entire length of that section is less than 100 yards.
“The name of the road is Industrial Access Road. There is no access to the industrial area and you’ve got two roads with the identical name that can’t be accessed by each other,” he said.
“It might actually decrease some confusion if the road on our side had a different name.”
Councilman David May said it would be good for 911 Emergency Services. The Council delayed action until the owners of the duplexes are notified.
The confusion described by Queen is minor compared to the rest of the mental hoops and hurdles 911 dispatchers must pass through and jump over in their minds when sending agencies to an emergency.
During an interview earlier in January, not connected with Queen’s request at the Council meeting, Bradley County 911 CAD/GIS Coordinator Angela Bledsoe said obstacles can be overcome by adding additional instructions into the database, but it adds pressure on the dispatchers and increases the chance of error in the one-minute window in which they work and dispatch response to a scene.
The bottom line is someone is going to respond and render aid and assistance to victims in the event of an emergency. But, which agency is sent when a caller says they are on Azalea?
Azalea Drive N.W., lies between Mimosa Drive N.W. and Redbud Drive N.W. It is served by Cleveland Fire Station No. 2, Emergency Medical Services Station No. 1 and the Cleveland Police Department.
Azalea Avenue N.W. is located near Freewill Road and served by the Bradley County Sheriff’s Department, CFD Station No. 5 and EMS Station No. 5.
By Mapquest, the two roads are 3.5 miles and seven minutes apart, which is more than the lengths of time and distance between life and death.
When someone calls in a panic reporting an emergency on Eldridge, does the dispatcher send responders to Eldredge Drive N.W., Eldredge Circle N.W., Eldredge Avenue N.W., Eldridge Lane S.W., or Eldridge Road S.W.?
In the case of streets named “William,” does the dispatcher send emergency personnel to William Way N.W. or William Way S.E?
Bledsoe said mapping standards call for odd house numbers on the left and even numbers on the right, but there are many cases where odd and even numbers are on the same side of the road, which makes it difficult for first responders to get to the scene on time.
Imagine a house number not only on the wrong side of the road, but placing it out of order adds to confusion and time delays.
“If you were an ambulance driver responding to a heart patient at 1205 Whatever Avenue. You pass house number 1111, then 1301 and thinking you missed it, you turn around, not knowing 1205 was the next house only one-tenth of mile farther down the road.”
Another problem occurs when address ranges are in ascending order on one street and descending order on the next. One road may start at 3000 and the next at 100.
As the city of Cleveland continues to grow, city and county areas of responsibility are created on the same roads and even on the same parcels. About half of Spring Branch Road, which leads to the site of the proposed industrial site near McDonald, is in the county while the other half is in the city. The only way to access the city addresses are by passing through the county. The problem is reversed in other situations.
“When a caller says there is a wreck on Spring Branch Road with entrapment and when the caller advises the wreck is located about halfway up the road, who do you send?” she asked.
In another scenario near APD 40 and Exit 20, all of Tonia Drive S.W. is in the county with the exception of four addresses.
“If there is an accident at the intersection of Tonia Drive and Harris Creek Road, who does the dispatcher send?”
“The city renamed one block of 1st Street N.W. to Bobby Taylor Avenue N.W. However, the address is still 1st Street N.W., though that particular address no longer exists,” she said.
Addresses on the north side of Harrison Pike are in the city. Addresses on the south side in the county are addressed Harrison Pike West. While it might not pose a problem in most cases, it matters to dispatchers who must contact the correct agency.
“This causes the same road to have addresses on the left that have different names than the ones on the right,” Bledsoe said. “I cannot name one road two different names in CAD.”
One of the oddest problems is the home at 3750 Old Tasso Road N.E., which sets in the middle of Stonebriar Subdivision and is only accessible by Stonebriar Drive N.E.
