Starland rolling out rural addresses this summer
“We are one of the last ones to finish up but we should have it all done this year,” said Matthew Kreke administrative projects manager for Starland County.
He explains the new addresses are similar to urban addresses in that they are based on the position of the primary access to residences based on a numbering scheme adopted by the province. These are in relation to the nearest township or range road.
The addresses are a maximum of six digits. The first two or three digits in the address are to indicate the reference road. For example if the first two digits are 25, it could mean Range Road 25.
The remaining three digits indicate the number of 40-metre intervals from the reference road to the primary access to the property. If the main driveway were three intervals from Range Road 25, the address would be 25003.
The number will be followed by the name of the road where the primary access point is located. Even numbered roads will be on the north and west sides of the roads.
Kreke said the primary focus will be for emergency services.
“The initial phase is to get it up, and then we will take the GIS data set from this. We are going to input them into monitors for emergency services so they will have them within their units. They can just plug in numbers and it can give them directions,” said Kreke.
He adds that emergency dispatch will also have the directory.
He said for many residents it would be an adjustment as they have always described their address using the legal land description.
“Part of this summer will be rolling out a public information campaign to introduce how this is going to be used, what the numbers are… and hopefully give them some things as a reminder. I think the most important thing is to make sure they remember it. Of course, when they get the sign up they will see it every time they drive in, said Kreke.
He said Starland County will pay for the initial signs. After that, sign maintenance and sign replacement will be the responsibility of the property owner. New developments registered after January 2012 will also be responsible for the new signs.