Lock Haven City Council Approves New Alley Naming System To Reflect Cardinal Directions
By Emily Wright
LOCK HAVEN – During Monday night’s City Council meeting, Council members unanimously approved the addition of “East” and “West” to the alley names beginning at Mill Street. Additionally, they voted in favor of adding “North” and “South” to the alley names beginning at Bellefonte Avenue. This decision was made in response to a resident’s request to clarify the direction in the alley names, as there was difficulty in locating their building within the alleys due to a lack of direction specified in the name.
Mill Street intersects East Main Street in downtown Lock Haven next to Subway. This intersection is also where East Main Street abruptly changes to West Main Street according to the sign posted directly in front of Reese’s Print Shop.
Where East Main Street veers left at this intersection, Bellefonte Avenue begins. It has been proposed that beginning at Bellefonte Avenue, alleys be assigned “North” and “South” as requested by residents.
“Lock Haven City Council received a request from a resident about trouble they were having with the Bureau address. This was relayed to the Clinton County [Geographic Information Systems] (GIS) Department,” said City Planner Abbey Roberts. “A solution was found that we can split alley addresses between East and West without causing too much complex complications in the system,” she said.
Mayor Joel Long explained that the resident who made the request had a “rear address”, meaning that access to their residence was located behind their building in an alley. This caused confusion for people trying to locate them because it was not specified which direction of the alley the building was in.
In attendance at the meeting was Joe Sanders, who addressed council members stating, “It lists here, Bellefonte Avenue. Would it also go to Main Street or would it end at Bellefonte Avenue?” He asked before proposing, “What about East at The Express building?”. Discussion continued with no clear response to his proposal.
Jim Watson, Clinton County GIS Director, has handled the confusion that this type of scenario poses over the years. He proposes that the City accommodate these requests for changes to alley names on a case-by-case basis. The purpose of indicating the direction of any alley in Lock Haven is to avoid confusion and ensure the quickest possible response time for our EMS.
Moving forward, adjustments to alley names will be made on a case-by-case basis.
