FOR PLACES THAT ARE NORTH AND EAST IN DENVER, THE “NORTH” AND “EAST” WAS ALWAYS ASSUMED.
It didn’t have to be written down. But now, the city of Denver wants to add directional designations to north and east addresses to help Denver Police, Denver Fire and EMS find locations faster.
“We have intersecting roads that might seem to be on the east side of town, might seem to be on the west side of town,” Captain Greg Pixley, Denver Fire Department, said.
What really matters is a street’s location relative to Broadway and Ellsworth, the zero points in the town.
“So, if we were to confuse one road for another, we might end up going in opposite directions,” Pixley said.
Heather Burke with the Department of Public Works says the city will meet on Monday to discuss the rollout of this new plan.
“This is a big lift for Denver and will take some time to implement completely,” Burke said in a statement. “Street signage will be updated over their normal replacement schedules.”
In other words, Burke says the city will not be actively replacing street signs for this purpose, but when it is time for a sign to be replaced, the new signs will carry the designation of “North” or “East” unlike before.
“So, the city’s part of the problem,” Koert Voorhees, Denver resident, said.
Voorhees says the real issue will be getting people to change their habits. But, he does say the change makes sense.
“So much more clear that I can’t understand why they ever did it the other way,” Voorhees said.
Pixley says the added information to addresses can only help rescue personnel. He said twice this week, the fire department received confusing information on addresses causing a slight delay in response time.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to know exactly where our responses should be,” Pixley said. “Seconds save lives.”
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