Report to/Rapport
au:
Planning
and Development Committee/
Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’aménagement
and Council/ et au Conseil
15 August
2001/ le 15 août 2001
Submitted
by/Soumis par: Ned Lathrop, General
Manager/Directeur général
Development Services Department/Services d’aménagement
Contact/Personne-ressource: Catherine E. Junop, Director/Directrice
Building
Services/Services du bâtiment
244-5300-1-3368,
Catherine.Junop@city.ottawa.on.ca
|
|
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Ref N°:
ACS2001-DEV-BLD-0004
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SUBJECT: Municipal Addressing Study - Duplicate
Street Names
OBJET: Étude
sur les adresses municipales - Répétition des noms de rue
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
That Planning and Development Committee recommend City
Council approve the 136 street name changes which received majority support
from affected residents in the consultation process, as detailed in Document 1.
2.
That Planning and Development Committee recommend City
Council approve the 10 street name changes suggested by petition from the
community but for which community response from those affected was less than
51%, as detailed in Document 2.
3.
That Planning and Development Committee recommend City
Council support one of the following options for the two (2) remaining
duplicated street names, as detailed in Document 3:
a.
That Planning and Development Committee recommend City
Council continue the review of Lilac Lane (Cumberland and Ottawa) and Sunset
Boulevard (Ottawa and Osgoode) with a
view to resolving the duplicated street names and report back within three
months, or
b. That Planning and
Development Committee recommend City Council approve the suggested street name
change for Lilac Lane, Ottawa to Magnolia Lane and Sunset Boulevard, Ottawa to
Sunset View Boulevard.
4. That
Planning and Development Committee recommend City Council approve and enact the
implementing by-laws detailed in Document 9 to change the names of the streets
approved in Recommendations 1, 2 and 3
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
1.
Que
le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’aménagement recommande au Conseil municipal
d’approuver les 136 changements de dénomination de rue qui ont reçu l’appui de
la majorité des résidents au cours du processus de consultation, tels qu’ils
sont expliqués au Document 1.
2.
Que
le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’aménagement recommande au Conseil municipal
d’approuver les dix changements de dénomination de rue suggérés par la
communauté par le biais de pétitions, mais pour lesquels l’appui de la
communauté s’élevait à moins de 51 %, tels qu’ils sont expliqués au Document 2.
3.
Que
le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’aménagement recommande au Conseil municipal
d’appuyer l’une des options suivantes pour les deux (2) noms de rue dupliqués
restants, telles qu’elles sont expliquées au Document 3:
- Que
le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’aménagement recommande au Conseil
municipal de poursuivre l’examen de l’allée Lilac (Cumberland et Ottawa)
et du boulevard Sunset (Ottawa et Osgoode) en vue de résoudre le problème
lié aux noms de rue dupliqués et de présenter son rapport d’ici trois
mois;
- Que
le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’aménagement recommande au Conseil
municipal d’approuver le changement de dénomination de rue suggéré pour
l’allée Lilac, Ottawa, à allée Magnolia, et pour le boulevard Sunset,
Ottawa, à boulevard Sunset View;
4. Que
le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’aménagement recommande au Conseil municipal
d’approuver et d’adopter les règlements municipaux de mise en œuvre expliqués
au Document 9 afin de changer les noms des rues approuvés aux Recommandations
1, 2 et 3.
BACKGROUND
This Report is the culmination of
the extensive research and public consultation that was initiated by the Ottawa
Transition Board (OTB) and which was continued under the direction of the
Development Services Department. The
Department has analyzed the findings of the project group and has determined
that the benefit of eliminating duplicated street names warrants
consideration. The Ottawa Transition
Board established the Street Naming and Numbering Project to identify problems
relating to duplicate municipal addresses, assess best practices, and prepare a
policy report that would establish the future administration of municipal
addressing and recommended a solution to eliminate duplicate street names. A second report recommending new policies,
regulations, administration, enforcement, fees and charges, and signage
protocol for the future street names for the City will be forwarded to
Committee and Council in the fall 2001.
As communities grow or amalgamate
duplicated street names become an even greater issue of concern for those
emergency and general service agencies that are concerned with the ability to
provide effective service to residences and businesses. In previous annexations, street name change
by-laws were enacted through notice in the local newspaper in advance of the
changes. In 1950, the City of Ottawa
enacted a By-law that resulted in the renaming of over 50 streets without
formal consultation. Since the turn of
the 20th century, area municipalities have enacted over 300 street
name change by-laws. Just as the issue
of clearly visible address numbers on rural properties became a provincially
mandated issue for rural municipalities, the confusion that is possible from
duplicate street names once again must be considered. Both are elements of way finding that, when confusion
arises, “Hard to find is Hard to
Help.”
Few of the Ontario municipalities
that have recently amalgamated have, as yet, opted to implement an effective
solution for duplicate street names.
Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, and Sudbury have recently met to discuss how
best to deal with duplicate street names in a manner that will have minimal
impact on affected communities in terms of cost and personal records. Municipal
representatives were very supportive of Ottawa’s in-depth analysis and approach
to the recommended solution. Some of these cities are now re-examining
the duplicate street name issue because the alternative of inaction relies on
the continuing use of municipal references that are no longer officially
recognized.
In this regard, neither Bell Canada nor Canada Post is
compelled to maintain historical references to previous municipality
names. Bell Canada is currently
pro-actively encouraging municipalities that either have or are about to
amalgamate to eliminate street name duplication as quickly as is feasible. It is their objective to work with area
municipalities to have these references eliminated ideally within 24 months so
that, once again, only the officially recognized municipality names
remain. As the names of the old
municipalities whether officially or unofficially fade into the past, it will
ultimately become more and more difficult and confusing, in particular for
tourists, when attempting to differentiate between streets with the same name. The viable solution is to either change the
street name or render the name clearly unique (Refer to Optional Solutions
Section). Finally, Bell Canada has
recently adopted the policy that, for all future amalgamated cities, the PERS
system cannot be implemented until all street names have been rendered unique.
The OTB project considered
alternatives to street name changes, particularly those suggestions that were
put forward by the public during consultation.
The suggested alternatives for the most part involve incorporating new
elements into existing databases, or incorporating old community names. In terms of information consistency, a
majority of the suggestions would involve the need to amend 100 % of the
database for all cities in Ontario to resolve an issue that affects 1.6% of
Ottawa’s population.
DISCUSSION
Recommendation 1
Development Services Department
recommends changing street names at this time for the following reasons:
·
To reduce the potential for confusion and delay in the
dispatch of Emergency Services.
·
To simplify way finding for the general public and
tourists, taxis, delivery businesses etc.
·
To capitalize on the considerable portion of the
project already completed including extensive public consultation under the
sponsorship and financial support of the OTB.
·
To capitalize on the unique opportunity the new City
has to proceed with this project where through the public consultation process
a majority of respondents have indicated support for the change.
·
To implement the solution of eliminating duplication as
a “Best Practice” where alternative solutions have been investigated and, based
on the discussion of each alternative outlined below, that this measure is the
most cost effective, least disruptive and reasonable method of dealing with the
issue.
i) Emergency Dispatch
The primary concern that arises
when discussing duplicate street names is the potential for confusion and the
resulting delay in emergency response.
In 2000, the 911 Call Centre, a service available to our 785,000 residents
and over 6,000,000 tourists annually, received 236,010 emergency calls.
Of significant concern is the
proportion of incoming emergency calls received from cell phones and the fact
that the use of cell phones to obtain emergency assistance is increasing at an
alarming rate. Currently, cell phone
calls equate to 38% of all calls to the 911 Call Centre or 90,412 calls in the
past year, up from 34% or 69,364 calls in 1999. Currently 25% of Canadians have cell phones compared to 17% in
1999. In comparison, Japan is currently
contending with a cell phone saturation of 80% (Reference Optional Solutions –
Add a Numerical Code).
All emergency services and the 911 operators must deal
with the issue of duplicate streets on a daily basis. Over and above the 236,010 calls to the 911 Centre, there are an
additional 750,000 calls annually from individuals who attempt to call police,
ambulance and fire services directly.
The Ottawa Police Communication Section indicated the following: “When a
caller utilizes the police emergency number or calls from a cellular telephone,
no personal address information is displayed at the Call Centre and the call
taker must identify the location of the emergency by questioning the
caller. Callers do not always know
where they are.”
Understanding that many callers
are under considerable stress when making an emergency call, identifying their
exact location in a timely manner can become challenging. Cell phone callers and non-residents in such
a predicament often resort to locating the nearest street sign and provide this
information to the call taker. When
that street sign bears the name of one of a number of duplicate street names,
additional questioning must take place, which again takes valuable time. The opportunity for increased confusion
clearly exists. The most efficient way
to address this issue is to eliminate duplicate street names.
Emergency service representatives
have stressed that street names need to be clear and unique to avoid confusion
for the service providers, the business sector and the general public when
attempting to locate a property. “Hard
to find can mean hard to help.”
While emergency services view the
use of cell phones as a real advantage in terms of convenience, the location of
the caller remains an issue. When an
emergency call is received from a cell phone, the only information displayed on
the 911 screen is the Automatic Number Identification/Automatic Location
Identification (ANI/ALI) of the cellular provider. The caller must describe their specific location using the only
indicators available to them at the scene of the emergency. Typically, this is the name of the street
and the house number. Call takers have
advised that, under stress, a caller will typically remember the proper name of
the street but will either not remember or give an incorrect suffix. Without clear property identification, the
ability for the call taker to confirm the location of an emergency within the
optimum first few critical seconds will be seriously affected.
Police, ambulance and fire have
provided examples of problems arising from duplicated street names. The most compelling example occurred in the
City of Peterborough. A coroner’s
inquest followed an unfortunate death in 1995.
The findings of the inquest brought to the foreground the importance of
first response effectiveness, the relationship between clear municipal
addressing and the ability to provide the service within the critical first few
minutes. In this case, confusion with
duplicate street names contributed to a nine-minute delay in the arrival of the
ambulance at the proper location. In
his testimony, the pathologist indicated the recovery probability of an
individual having a heart attack declines about 2% to 10% per minute starting
with the estimated probability of 70% to 80% survival at the zero. In most life-threatening situations, time is
the critical element and any delay in way finding will diminish the probability
of recovery.
·
“End Address Mix-up, jury says.”
A fatality in Manotick-Rideau was attributed to confusion over the
display of an unofficial civic address (Ottawa Citizen article Jan. 15, 1991).
·
“Straightening out confusing street names in Strathroy.” A newspaper
article discusses how emergency vehicles were sent to the wrong ‘duplicate’
street, thus delaying response time to the correct location. After repeated
calls between the Police Chief and dispatch, it was determined that emergency
crews should have been on Parkview Crescent rather than Parkview
Drive. It was noted in the article
that this confusion could have had disastrous results if the emergency was more
serious (The Age Dispatch, Apr. 4, 2001).
·
“Mix-ups put lives at risk- (Fire crews sent to wrong city),” A newspaper
article discusses the need to eliminate duplicate street names. The article showed that confusion emerged
when a 911 caller stated that the incident was on Blair Road, Gloucester where
the dispatch was able to determine, minutes later, the incident was actually on
Blair Street in Ottawa. Dispatch had to
then re-direct emergency crews to the correct location (Ottawa Sun, 2000).
·
“Township puts an end to road with 3 names,” A newspaper article
discusses how, due to a roadway having 3 different official names, emergency
services were confused as they attempted to determine the exact location of the
emergency. Subsequently, the majority
of residents who live on the street signed a petition requesting that, to
eliminate future confusion, one name applied to the road (Ottawa Citizen).
·
A resident in Osgoode experienced a delay in receiving emergency
assistance as a result of confusion over a duplicate street name. The street
name was duplicated elsewhere and Emergency services initially went to the
wrong River Road.
ii) Way Finding
Clear property identification is
paramount to the effective location of our residents, business and the general
public in an emergency situation. Clear
identification is necessary to receive even basic services, as for example,
mail/parcel delivery, ordering a taxi, friends, family and tourists visiting
our new City or simply ordering a pizza.
Individuals who have experienced delays in service delivery due to
confusion with municipal addressing have indicated their support of this issue.
Factors affecting way finding
A majority of property
information databases, including the system used at the 911 Call Centre, are
address-based systems. In an emergency,
this information is relayed to the Call Centre in one of the following two
ways:
- Calls received from land lines (a hard wired phone
connection) that are linked to an information database displaying
information related to the service address (the origin/location of the
call), a business headquarters and/or the billing address.
- Calls received from cell phones and all other
emergency calls not received at the 911 Centre that provide no information
about the location of the caller.
If information is provided, a
typical address string includes the individual or company name, the civic number,
the street address and any extension (i.e. prefix or suffix) and the
municipality.
Note: In both cases, the caller must confirm
his or her location before dispatch of emergency services is possible. Any confusion arising while attempting to
confirm the address will result in a delay.
- Amalgamation has resulted in the duplication of
affected street names at least twice and, as some cases, i.e. John Street,
up to 6 times within the boundaries of the new City.
- Further confusion results from the number of
duplicate intersections. There
are, for example, three intersections of Church and Main Streets.
Streets with
duplicate names represent only 4.3 % of the total number of listed streets in
the new City. Following the review of
each affected street, based on the established evaluation criteria (discussed
later in this report), it was concluded that 122 of the 272 affected streets
would retain their names, while the names of the remaining streets or 2.4% of
the total number of streets in the new City need to be rendered unique.
iii) Continuation of the OTB Project
General
Overview
This project has incorporated a
full public consultation process including 3 public meetings and 9 town hall
meetings. The purpose for the initial
public meetings was to provide an overview of the study objectives, outline the
evaluation process, obtain feedback on the draft evaluation criteria and
solicit suggestions for new street names.
The subsequent town hall meetings were to obtain feedback on the draft
recommendations and optional names as developed by the community, local
historians and the team. Over the
course of the project, the public was encouraged to suggest alternate solutions
and/or new street names via letters, e-mails and facsimiles, and by speaking with
one of the team members (Detailed Project Plan Available on Request).
All of the alternatives put
forward by those directly affected, the general public and the emergency
services were assessed and are discussed in Best Practices. Suggested solutions included, change
existing technology to recognize the duplicate names, change the suffix only,
add an alpha or numeric code, add the community name, change the civic number
only and change the street name.
Once identified as a safety
issue, comments from the general public indicated support for the need to
render street names unique. A large
portion of those directly affected, once informed of the safety aspects and the
objective of the project to provide clear identification for families, friends
and neighbours were also in support.
Those adamantly opposed to change
were primarily concerned about the potential loss of historic background and
community identity. In all cases, the
recommendations have attempted to respect those streets with historically
sensitive names by either incorporating the existing name into the new name or
by given the community the opportunity to circulate a petition recommending a
new name.
Some individuals related their personal experiences with confusion caused
by addressing problems and resulting delays.
The examples detailed below relate to both emergency response and basic
service delivery.
§
Similar sounding street names and names that mean the same
(airport/aviation parkways)
§
Identical street names with different suffixes
§
Continuous streets with multiple street names over the length of the
street
§
Streets with an alpha or numeric identification only.
§
Streets and/or private roadways that are named but not formally
recognized by by-law and/or may not be illustrated on existing official mapping
systems
§
The lack of addressing for parks, bridges, streets within school
boundaries, federal, commercial and office complexes identified by name only.
§
Other anomalies as determined through the project and listed in Document 5.
These items will be
discussed within the second Report to deal with the overall street naming
policies and best practices for the administration of municipal addressing in
the future.
The 911 Emergency Response System
was implemented in 1988 with the subsequent execution of a Joint Powers
Agreement in 1994 between the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, all
area municipalities, the Ministry of Health and the emergency response agencies
for the establishment and maintenance of the current joint enhanced E911
system. The base maps indicating the
street configuration and street names is provided to Bell Canada by the City of
Ottawa. Together with the address database,
the information is then supplied by Bell Canada to the 911 Call Centre. For Emergency Services to be effective, the
information on the E911 system relating to municipal addressing, now provide by
the new Public Emergency Reporting Service (PERS), successfully implemented on
June 27, 2001, is dependent on clear, accurate and consistent information (Ref.
Doc. 6 - Correspondence from Bell Canada).
In 1996 and 1997 both the 911
Management Board and Regional Council identified municipal addressing concerns
as a critical issue. In 1999, the 911
Management Board formed a task group (Sub-Committee on Civic Addressing) with
representation from the various emergency services and area municipalities to
review existing related by-laws and regulations. On February 4, 2000, Regional Council considered and adopted the
specific street naming guidelines recommended by the Sub-Committee. At that time, both the 911 Management Board
and Regional Council conveyed a strong message to the OTB stressing the need,
importance and urgency of resolving concerns related to municipal addressing,
in particular those street names that would be duplicated as a result of the
upcoming amalgamation. It was
emphasized that not since the implementation of the 911 system has there been a
more opportune time to develop a common approach to municipal addressing.
The primary objective of the
Ottawa Transition Board (OTB) project was to develop an implementation strategy
that would result in an inventory of unique street names and to reduce
potential confusion and delay in the dispatch of emergency services. Resolution of the duplicate street names was
to be based on a fair impartial process with a minimum of disruption to the
affected owner/occupant residents and public/private businesses of the new City
of Ottawa, with an emphasis on an extensive public participation process.
To determine best
practices/lessons learned in other amalgamated cities across the province and
within Canada, a survey was conducted (Document 7). Cities who have taken action to resolve the
issue have attempted a variety of approaches.
Some cities addressed duplicate street names in preparation for
conversion to the 911system. Other
municipalities, for example Prince Edward County, placed the greatest emphasis
on the historic background. In that
case, only the suffixes were changed in an attempt to make streets unique. The municipality later admitted this was not
the best solution as it has caused confusion for emergency services in that
callers to the 911 Centre often confuse the suffix. As a result, a change in suffix only is no longer permitted. A second example is the City of Picton that,
for the well-known streets in the primary business district, the name of the
municipality was added to the address line, i.e., “Main Street” became “Picton
Main Street.” This latter alternative
has been adopted as a viable recommended solution for some of the duplicate
Main Streets in Ottawa.
Optional Solutions
To identify viable options that
would satisfy the needs of those directly affected, emergency and general service
agencies, and the general public, all of the alternatives submitted by
emergency services, the technical sub-committee, affected residents,
businesses, the general public and the project team were considered.
Suggestions were far ranging from
simply changing the civic number to utilizing existing technology to change the
overall data base information provided to the 911 Call Centre so as to continue
to recognize existing duplicate names through the introduction of codes or
geographical reference points. The
following is a summary list of suggestions and a discussion of the
alternatives. The alternative
recommended by the Department is included at the end of this section:
a.
Change the suffix
b.
Add an alpha or numeric code
c.
Change the existing technology
d.
Add the town, village or neighborhood name
e.
Mapping to the neighborhood level (town, villages, hamlet)
f.
Changing the civic numbers only
g.
Change the street name
a) Change the suffix
Some
individuals felt that duplicate street names could be made unique by simply
changing the suffix, as for example, from “Street” to “Avenue.” Based on first hand experiences, dispatchers
and front line staff have indicated this alternative will not avoid potential
confusion. In a stressful situation,
callers often remember the proper street name but sometimes inadvertently give
an incorrect suffix. For example, when
an address is entered onto a 911 screen, all streets starting with the same
primary name are listed. In all cases,
the call taker must quiz the caller to confirm on which of the duplicate
streets the caller is calling from. In
a panic situation, the caller may not be able to respond or provide detailed
information beyond the primary street name.
For duplicate streets, only through further dialogue with the caller can
it be confirmed on which specific street the emergency exists. An emergency vehicle cannot be dispatched
until the confusion is resolved. In
extreme cases, the Call Centre must dispatch vehicles to multiple locations
thus, jeopardizing other emergency situations.
A unique street
name would eliminate confusion and the resulting delay in dispatching emergency
services.
b) Add an Alpha or Numeric Code
Add the Postal Code (Canada
Post)
A
suggestion was made that the inclusion of the postal code would render the
street name unique in that the code would identify the general location of the
street as to whether the street is in, for example, Osgoode Village or Fitzroy
Harbor.
This
option might be feasible if all emergency calls were received from hard line
telephones, where the code could be included as part of the personal
information displayed at the 911 Call Centre.
However, if the call is received from a different location, a wireless
or cell phone, no information is displayed and the caller would have to provide
the postal code for that area. The
code would have to be displayed on the street sign in order to assist visitor
and service companies in emergency situations. The City has no jurisdiction over
the postal coding system that can change periodically. In this regard, Canada Post has a long-range
goal to ultimately convert R.R. and P.O. Box designations to the municipal
address system. Some codes, particularly
in the rural areas, encompass large areas of the City and would not provide the
desired clarity. As mentioned, under
stress, callers have difficulty describing basic information and will often
remember the street name but will have difficulty confirming related detailed
information pertaining to, for example, the name of the particular
neighborhood, town or village. To
expect the general public to provide a postal code would be considered an
unreasonable expectation.
Add
the Telephone Exchange (Bell Canada)
A
suggestion was put forward that the three digit local telephone exchange be
added at the end of the address line as an indicator of the precise location of
a given property.
A
recent Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
decision now allows independent companies to provide telephone services across
Canada. At the same time, in
anticipation of the quickly depleting source of available phone numbers, local
municipalities are faced with the introduction of additional area codes and the
anticipated 10-digit telephone number system, currently implemented in
Toronto. Finally, with the ever
increasing pressure from businesses and the public to not change telephone
number when relocating, Local Number Portability (LNP) is due to be introduced
in the near future. It is our
understanding that customers will be able to transfer their 10 digit telephone
numbers to any other service provider across Canada. Once implemented,
emergency agencies would not be able to rely on telephone exchanges to dispatch
emergency services. Once again, the
point address (unique street name) will be the critical factor in the ability
to locate a 911 callers quickly and with minimal confusion.
Add a Numerical Code
Japan
originally adopted a numeric system that has worked quite well for many
years. The system is of greatest
benefit for mail delivery. However,
visitors have acknowledged that it is complicated when attempting to locate a
property, unless the individual has access to local maps. Visitors have difficulty relating to known
landmark intersections without principle street names. In Japan, numbers are used to identify the
district, the neighborhood, the block and the unit. This form of identification would not be consistent with other
cities in Canada and, therefore, confusing for the public. To maintain continuity and information
consistency across the Province and the country, this option could not be
applied exclusively to the affected duplicate street names in Ottawa. To consider this option would necessitate a
re-design of the entire addressing system.
To
simply add a numeric code to the end of an address line would have the same
effect as outlined in the previous section.
c) Change
the Existing Technology
Geo-Technical Coordinates
Some municipalities,
as for example, Hamilton, are considering the use of coordinate information to
identify properties. The rationale is
that when a call is received, an X, Y coordinate would be available within the
information provided to the 911Call Centre that would identify the exact
location of the property. This information
is currently available in the data string within some municipal
databases.
For this option to be viable, there are two issues to be considered. In the past, the address information provided by Bell address,
relate more closely to the billing address and not, therefore, the actual
location of the telephone. Recently,
this information is more closely linked to the service address (the location of
the telephone). The above
notwithstanding, often large companies have all of their telephones linked
through a main switchboard or their head office building. As a result, what will be displayed at the
Call Centre, regardless of where an individual is calling from, will be the
main address. In some cases, the
address information is still linked to the billing address. For example, a person from AVIS car rental
called 911 on a hard line and the call taker appropriately confirmed that the
address displayed on their screen was in fact the location of the person
calling. Under stress, the caller
responded “Yes, can you just please send an ambulance quickly!!” In this case, the billing address for the
AVIS head office was the information displayed on the ANI/ALI not the point
address of the caller. There was a
fatality as a result of the confusion (Ottawa 1999). Call takers always confirm that the information on the
screen is the correct location and, if the caller hangs up, they must call back
to confirm additional information.
This case simply demonstrates how critical clear information is to
effective emergency response and that geo-technical coordinates would only
assist emergency service drivers locate the property once the proper address
and location have been confirmed.
The United States is also looking at this
technology. However, representatives
have indicated that Geo-Technical coordinate information will only be used as
an additional factor to help locate a property once the property has been
identified by its municipal address.
Once again,
since 38% of all 911 calls are received from cell phones, the only information displayed at the Call
Centre is the address of the cellular provider.
Locating Cell Phones by Transmission Towers
A suggestion to locate cell phones by
triangulating the signal sent from the transmission towers to a cell phone was
considered. Information obtained on
this issue revealed that a signal sent to a cell phone is not stable and can
easily move from one tower to another in the course of a conversation in that
the phone is always searching for the strongest signal. Typically, a cell phone receives the incoming
or outgoing call signal from one tower.
To establish a reasonable level of accuracy, triangulation would require
multiple towers. Therefore, given that
towers are only able to determine that the phone is within the general service
radius of the tower, triangulation from local transmission towers is not
considered by police communication staff to be an accurate method of point
location.
Global Positioning Systems
(GPS) – (Triangulation)
A cellular telephone equipped
with GPS technology relays a signal to multiple satellites orbiting the earth
that determine its position in terms of longitude and latitude. If the signal is interrupted, as is the case
when the unit is either in a building or under a canopy of trees, a position
cannot be determined. Therefore, while GPS could be used for positioning
cellular telephones located outside, another method of locating GPS units
located inside buildings would have to be employed. It is our understanding this technology has yet to be developed.
The United States Federal
Communication Commission has recently legislated that cell-phone manufacturers
equip their telephones with location-tracking technology by 2005. While such technology could save lives in an
emergency, the legislation has raised serious questions concerning invasion of
personal privacy. In preparation of a
class action suit against the Federal Government, the law firm Perkins and Cole
of Seattle stated the following “For most people, it is a very scary proposition
that the government can use not only your mobile phone but Palm Pilots and any
other mobile device to track your every movement. Some worry that the technology will be used in other ways, with
providers selling information to merchants or worse: stalkers or abusive
relatives.”
Ultimately, our charter
right to personal privacy may be in question and the universal adoption of a
mandatory location-tracking system would likely require lengthy debate at the
Federal level. It is our understanding,
this technology is not currently or in the near future under considered by the
Canadian government.
There is some discussion
that this technology may be considered by the emergency services to assist with
the ability to dispatch the closest vehicle to an emergency or crime
scene. GPS technology is currently
available to individuals or businesses that choose
to exercise this option.
Cellular
Phone Tracking
As mentioned, the number
of emergency calls received annually from cell phones is increasing at a
staggering rate. Specifically, in 2000
there has been a 4% increase from the previous year and the projection for 2001
is that the percentage of all emergency calls received from cell phones will
exceed 42%. This is compounded by the
over 750,000 additional calls received annually from callers attempted to
contact the fire, ambulance or police telephone lines directly, in which case
no address data base information is available to the call taker.
Generally, the public is
not aware that the only information displayed from a cell phone on the ANI/ALI
screen at the 911 Call Centre is the address of the company providing the cell
phone service. In addition, information related to callers calling individual
services directly is not available.
Finally, unlisted telephone numbers do not display personal
information. As a result, call takers
are finding it more and more difficult to locate these callers. Cell phone
callers must continue to use street name signs, house numbers and local
physical land marks as the only available identifiers when attempting to
describe their specific location.
Problems arise when, for example, a child or a tourist while knowing or
being able to determine the name of the street, if duplicated elsewhere in the
city, will not be able to confirm the specific location of that particular
street.
Information Consistency
Bell Canada has advised
that a primary objective is the accessibility by all communities across the
province to consistent information and, eventually, wherever 911 services are
provided in Canada. Some of the smaller
municipalities are not as technologically advanced as Ottawa or Toronto and
would not, therefore, be able to utilize or relate to, for example,
geo-technical property coordinate information.
At the outset of the 911
Project, all area municipalities were evaluated by Bell Canada to determine the
status of their database and system capabilities. It was concluded that all systems would be able to accept and share
the basic address information as the common form of identification. In this regard, if geo-code information were
to be considered a viable solution, all area municipalities would first have to
be consulted to ensure this information can be supplied by each municipality
and whether existing systems would be capable of using or exchanging this
information. In addition, as it would
be the responsibility of each municipality to provide this information, of
greater issue to the smaller municipalities may be the cost to establish and
maintain the information.
Recently, in light of the
recognized safety issues, Bell Canada has indicated that, in the future, any
municipality wishing to be included within the new 911 PERS network will have
to first eliminate all duplicate street names.
e) Mapping to the Neighbourhood
Level
Faced with the amalgamation of a
number of municipalities in Ontario and Quebec and the resulting duplicate
street names, Bell Canada initiated a review of alternatives within the context
of 911 PERS implementation. One option
considered was to replace the existing municipality name (i.e.: Ottawa,
Ontario) with the name of the local town, village or neighborhood. To determine the viability of this option,
in 1996 Bell Canada undertook a trial in Haldimand-Norfolk. The trial involved preparing detailed maps
to define the boundaries of the village, town or hamlet. The trial demonstrated that Bell would
require an estimated 53% more time to capture the address information, and in
the more densely populated areas up to 93%.
Municipalities would be required to implement system changes, allocate
manpower to populate databases and to amend mapping systems that would incur
initial implementation costs and ongoing maintenance costs. Since Bell is committed to the maintaining
information consistency, this work would have to be undertaken within each municipality
across the Province and be compatible with existing local technology. Finally, the commitment to rollout the 911
PERS upgrade to the un-served areas of Ontario and Quebec within established
timelines would be significantly delayed.
The Ontario 911 Advisory Board
agreed that based on results of the trial, mapping to the detailed level was
not a viable alternative. As such, Bell has stated that this
option would not be considered unless otherwise instructed by the Advisory
Board.
f) Changing the Civic Number Only
The
suggestion to either add a number or multiple numbers in front of an existing
civic number, ensure the number is not duplicated on another street with the
same name, or to insert address ranges as a way to distinguish geographic areas,
as a way to avoid the need to change the street name, was assessed.
These
alternatives would present the following concerns:
·
Emergency
Services currently have problems with duplicate names and this option would not
address this underlying concern.
·
A change
in number would still require a formal address change including notification to
all business and personal contacts.
·
All
affected owners and occupants would be required to install new civic numbers,
whereas a street name change would only require notification with a change of
address package which will be provided by Canada Post at no cost.
·
If
number changes were implemented for the affected properties only, existing
sequential numbering would be disrupted.
In this regard, to provide guidance to both emergency and general
service agencies, the new by-law will provide standard suffixes denoting the
scale of the roadway. For example, a
“Court” is defined as a short local street including a cul-de-sac, a “Street”
is a local collector or through street, while a “Boulevard” is a four lane
divided roadway separated by a median.
Similarly, numbering should provide an indication as to the type of
street. For example, a short local
street would have a low number range 0-50; a local collector would have a range
between 10-500, while a major collector would utilize 1000-5000. Thus, when attempting to locate a property,
the number and suffix should provide important indicators. For example, 10 Talbot Rd. would tell a
driver to look for a short local street, whereas, 2410 St. Laurent Blvd. would
indicate a long collector roadway. In
summary, to simply add a number(s) to an existing civic number would not be
consistent with the policy objectives and would result in potential confusion.
g) Changing the Street Name
Testimonials from the emergency services, delivery businesses who
rely on municipal addresses to locate properties, individuals who have
experienced addressing problems resulting in emergency response delays and case
studies/inquests into deaths and near fatalities linked to streets with the
same name and addressing problems in general all emphasized the need for clear,
unique addressing.
Street names must be easy to interpret and remember if it is to be
accurately relayed to 911 in an emergency.
To consider alternatives that, in any way deviate from this objective
were found to present potential confusion that result in dispatch delays for
the 911 call takers when attempting to clarify the exact location of a caller. With the implementation of the new PERS
system, intended to enhance the ability to provide information and direct
incoming emergency calls to the appropriate police, fire or ambulance service
within seconds, is dependent on the ability to avoid the need to take
additional critical seconds to clarify the location of callers. Emergency calls received from cell phones
are growing at an alarming rate. As
mentioned, currently 38% of all incoming calls to 911 are from cell phones, up
4% from the previous year. In 2000, an
additional 21,048 calls were received.
Such callers must be able to describe their exact location using only
what information is available at the scene of the emergency, i.e., the street
name and civic number. If a caller is
on a street with a duplicate name and not otherwise familiar with the specific
community, additional time must be spent questioning the caller hoping they are
able to describe unique physical characteristics of the area, i.e.,
recognizable landmarks.
Recommended Alternative
Both the objectives of original OTB
Naming and Numbering charter project and the Departments is to recommend a
solution that will address immediate addressing problems stemming from
amalgamation and policies for the future administration of municipal addressing
in the new City of Ottawa.
Based on the alternative solutions
outlined in the forgoing discussion, it has been concluded that a change in the
street name is considered to be the only and best solution in the provision of
optimum clarity with minimum disruption to the residents and businesses of
Ottawa. Amalgamation has
presented an ideal opportunity to resolve this issue and to involve the
affected residents and business in the choice of their new name. A new unique name will provide maximum
clarity for emergency services in the protection for our families, friends and
visitors to our City. In several cases,
the recommended new name will be more representative of the community to which
it relates. It will assist the
convenience industry by aiding general mail delivery to the correct address,
parcel services, calling a taxi or simply ordering a pizza.
The specific
recommended name changes represent the conclusions of the study process, the
position of the project team and the majority opinion of the affected owners and
occupants. Approval of Recommendation 1
will result in the resolution of 96% of the duplicate street names. As outlined in Recommendation 2, where
further research may be needed or where petitions received less than a majority
support from the community, it is suggested either the petition name be
re-circulate or the item be deferred for further analysis.
CONSULTATION
Majority Support
A primary objective of the project has been to ensure that affected
property owners and tenants were given the opportunity to get involved in the
study process and, for those directly affected, in the naming of the public
street to which they are adjacent. To
this end, an extensive public consultation process was included in the project’s
work plan.
The project was divided into
three phases. The consultant firm, RANA
International, was retained to provide facilitation services. As outlined below, Phase I included the
development of evaluation criteria to determine which streets would retain
their existing name and which should change.
In addition, to refine the street naming and numbering guidelines for
later use when considering new street names both for this project and in the
future. Phase II involved three Public
Meetings intended to provide a project overview, obtain input on the draft
evaluation criteria and solicit suggestions for new names. Phase III, the Town Hall meetings, were
organized to present the results of the study, discuss the proposed
recommendations and, for those streets recommended for change, the optional
street names and/or the alternative petition process.
Phase I - Workshop (Evaluation Criteria)
An initial workshop held on May 24, 2000 brought together
participants with expertise in street naming and numbering including
representatives from each of the emergency services, the area municipalities,
representation from the Federation of Citizens, the business sector, and the
project team. The purpose was to
develop draft evaluation criteria that would be used to determine which of the
duplicate streets would retain their name and which should change. The
criterion was subsequently refined and submitted to the public for input.
Phase II
- Initial Public Meetings
All owners and tenants living
and/or working on a street with a duplicate name were invited to attend one of
three public meetings held in June at the Gloucester Community Centre, Nepean
Sportsplex and the Richmond Community Centre.
Of the over 24,000 units notified, approximately 80-100 people attended
each of the three meetings or just over 1 percent of the total number of those
directly affected.
As mentioned, the purpose for the
initial public meetings was to provide a project overview and to solicit input
on both the draft evaluation criteria and on the street naming and numbering
guidelines to be used within the new municipal addressing by-law. At each meeting, a number of facilitated
working groups were formed to give each person the opportunity to express their
ideas and concerns. In general, the
comments provided were positive and in support of the need to ensure clarity
for the emergency services.
Specifically, comments ranged
from preferring no change to simply requesting more information about the
process, timing and cost.
Statistically, the input recorded by RANA (Refer to Document 8, Numerical
Summary of Public Input) indicated that there were 630 submissions or
approximately 2.6 % of the affected residential and business occupants. Submissions were subsequently review and
summarized by the team (specific comments are available on request).
The following are highlights from
the comments received:
- Some people felt that the Project Team should simply
get on with the process.
- Others felt, in spite of hearing from various
emergency services speakers recounting experiences where duplicate street
names have delayed the timely response to emergency situations, that there
is insufficient justification to require street name changes.
- Suggestions that the current 911 system and
associated databases should be changed using available technology (i.e.
add more information to the database to make affected streets unique)
instead of disrupting residents and businesses.
- Suggestions that there should be some kind of
assistance from Canada Post to help with the street name change process.
- Concerns related to the cost of street name changes
to residents and business people.
- Desire to see the oldest streets retain their name
(with no regard for the numbers of people/businesses affected on the
corresponding duplicate street).
- Concerns about the validity of the public involvement
process.
While the purpose for the initial
meetings was to solicit input on the criteria, a large percentage of the
comments related to street specific concerns.
However, all of the comments and suggestions were reviewed in the
development of the final criteria.
Two suggestions put forward by
the public were to determine the related costs to residents and businesses, and
to identify whether there is “community significance” in the existing
name. With regard to cost, while the
cost to residents would be fairly equal, a detailed cost analysis of the effect
on businesses was not felt to be feasible given the obvious differences of
scale and operational methods. Historically,
municipalities have not provided compensation for required name changes. However, methods to reduce the financial
impact were explored. For example,
following City Council approval, the enactment date of the name changes will be
delayed six months thus giving businesses and residents an opportunity to
exhaust stationery and to notify business contacts and friends. From that date, as mentioned under
Implementation Strategy, Canada Post has offered to waive the standard charge
for the address change package and forward mail to the new address for 6
months.
With regard to community
significance, a new category for “Other Factors” was introduced to capture
related issues such as local historic or community significance unique to a
given street. Based on public input, the
resulting modifications to the original draft criteria are detailed below.
·
It is proposed that the “Number of residents and
non-residential uses affected” criteria be divided into two categories, i.e.:
“residential units” and “businesses.”
·
The testing of an original proposed criteria, “Follows
Street Naming Guidelines,” revealed that this factor should be applied in
the selection of new street name for new development. For the purposes of this exercise, the guidelines are considered too
restrictive in the context of trying to find/retain names reflective of the
community. As such, the naming
guidelines should be “a consideration only” and not a deciding factor in
choosing street names.
·
The criteria dealing with the length of time a street
has existed “Date Street Created” needs to be clarified to indicate when
the street was created rather than simply the number of years the name has
existed.
·
Include as a factor whether the street is a Citywide
recognized landmark.
|
Final Evaluation Criteria
|
|
·
Number of residential units
·
Number of businesses
·
Cost of replacing street signs*
·
Historical significance of street name
·
Date street created
·
Street name contributes to theme
·
Street forms boundary with or extends into
municipality outside the new City
·
Landmark - well known street or safety related
(i.e. hospital)
·
Other factors
* Based on one sign per
intersection
|
Weighting Criteria
One of the principle objectives from the outset of the project has been
to minimize impact on the affected individuals and businesses as a result of
required name changes. Comments were
received that the evaluation criteria should be weighted with the preferred
weighting applied to “historical significance.” However, in testing this approach it became clear that weighting
only historical significance would give unfair advantage in situations where
other factors should be taken into consideration. The evaluation needed the flexibility to deal with individual
unique situations, in terms of, for example, an established theme or a
well-known landmark. As such, where the
number of affected residents and businesses were equal, the other evaluation
factors were considered by comparing the applicable factor/criteria
individually against each of the affected streets.
Approach to Evaluating Streets
As stated, the underlying
objective has been to minimize impact on those residents and businesses
directly affected. Therefore, where
there are clearly a greater number of occupants on one street, the
recommendation is for the remaining duplicate streets to change their
name. If the number of residents and
businesses are effectively equal, the other factors with regard to historical
significance, the date the street was created, existing theme, etc. were
considered.
For those streets identified to
undergo a name change, first consideration was given to the names suggested by
the affected community. To supplement
the number of required names and to provide at least two options for each street,
an extensive amount of research was undertaken resulting in a list of over 600
potential names. Since the need to
retain historical significance was of prime importance, the principal focus was
placed on the research undertaken by local historians, historical societies and
available historical information unique to the community, the former
municipality and finally the City as a whole.
Bilingualism
Where street names were in
languages other than English, unless otherwise suggested by the community, the
suggested replacement name is in the same language. As set out in the guidelines, all street names are assigned both
English and French suffixes. As will be
recommended for the new municipal addressing by-law, where a name has accents
the accents will appear on the street sign.
Finally, it will be recommended that the new municipal addressing by-law
permit street names in any language with the provision, regardless of language,
that the name does not pose any confusion in terms of interpretation,
pronunciation or with other existing street names.
All of the names considered were
reviewed to ensure there is no duplication with the 6000 existing names
currently within the boundaries of the new City and that the names are
generally acceptable in terms of satisfying the proposed naming guidelines.
Phase III - Town Hall Meetings
The final phase of direct public
consultations consisted of notification by letter to the affected owners and
tenants. The letter included a proposed
recommendation and rationale regarding which street should retain the name,
street name options for those streets identified to be changed and a form to
indicate the preferred optional name to be completed and returned. All owners and tenants were requested to
either return the form or to attend one of nine Town Hall meetings.
The purpose for the Town Hall
meetings was to outline the evaluation process, discuss the results and
recommendations of the study, and optional names as developed by the community,
local historians and the team. Professional
staff from RANA and the full team was in attendance to facilitate the meeting
and to be available to discuss on a one to one basis any specific issues or
concerns.
Notification
An important aspect of the project has been to
ensure that all of the affected residential and business occupants and property
owners were notified of the pubic meetings.
This will also be crucial for notification of the final Council’s
decision concerning specific changes.
At the outset of the project, given that both
urban and rural properties would be affected, it became clear that available
information needed to be enhanced. The
Team initiated an exhaustive process to develop a comprehensive database for
mailing purposes. This information was
also crucial in confirming the number of residents and businesses affected, in
that this would be a critical factor in the evaluation of which street with a
duplicate name would retain their name.
The following is a list of sources considered:
·
GIS -
MAP database
·
Ontario
Assessment System (OASYS)
·
Might’s
Directory (business database)
·
Vernon
Directory (business database)
·
Cornerstone
Inc.
Following approval of specific
name changes and the enactment of the necessary implementing by-law, a phased
approach to implementing the actual name changes is recommended. In response to concerns regarding potential
confusion if all required address changes were to be implemented
simultaneously, it is recommended that there be a delay between phases (to be
determined). The by-law enactment date
would be segmented with an initial delay for a period of 6 months to give
businesses and residents an opportunity to exhaust stationery and notify
clients and friends. A phased approach,
in consultation with Canada Post, would reduce the need to make multiple
address changes. Changes would be made on a geographic basis with an estimated
overall implementation period of 12 months.
Notification will be sent to individuals/businesses
directly affected, emergency and technical services agencies, for example, IT
groups, Bell Canada, Canada Post, the assessment office. Over 150 agencies and groups will be
notified (A complete list of contacts is available on request).
Council,
as part of their review of the upcoming policy report, will consider best
practices study results with regard to concerns identified by the public
relating to the design of existing street name signs. The study results regarding size, colour, content and visibility
of street signs has also been referred to the Transportation Utilities and
Public Works Department (TUPW) for their consideration and appropriate action.
To accommodate the required
street name changes, it will be necessary to at minimum replace affected street
signs. The number of signs and related
costs are outlined in the Financial Implications section.
Address Confirmation
As part of the Departmental work
program, where civic number changes are required and within 3 months following
enactment of the by-law, the Department will confirm that the affected
properties are displaying the official civic number.
Recommendations 2
Where the optional names put forward by the Department
were not acceptable to the community, the option to submit a petition
suggesting an alternate street name was made available. Petitions were received affecting 47 streets
with 10 petitions receiving less that 51% support from the community. Individuals who circulated petitions,
indicated that in some cases they were simply unable to contact all of the
affected occupants complicated by restricted assess to some apartment buildings. As such, it was difficult to confirm whether
the community representative circulating the petition contacted all of the
affected residents/businesses.
The Department is of the opinion
that the affected communities are fully aware of the issue, have been given the
opportunity to participate at several public meetings and that the
residents/businesses on the affected streets would likely have been aware of an
ongoing petition and the suggested alternate name.
Recommendation 3
As outlined in Document 3, based
on the original evaluation the criterion for both Lilac Lanes was effectively
equal with a slightly higher number of residents in Ottawa. Further, it was thought that there were an
equal number of businesses. Both
streets were named based on an existing theme and while the street in Ottawa
was established by by-law in 1962, at the time of the evaluation there was no
related information for Cumberland.
Following the town hall meetings, Cumberland residents have submitted
new information confirming that there is a greater number of businesses,
evidence to the effect that the street has been in existence prior to 1962 and
that the street is lined with Lilac trees.
Lilac Lane in Ottawa was one of a number of area streets named after
flowers. As such, it has been concluded
that the recommendations should be for Ottawa to change its name. To this end, the alternate name “Magnolia”
is available and would maintain the established theme.
With regard to Sunset Blvd. in
Ottawa and Osgoode, Sunset Boulevard in Osgoode has approximately 58
residential units and 12 businesses that would be impacted by a street name
change, in comparison to 28 residential units and 9 businesses in Ottawa. With regard to theme, the Glebe neighborhood
in Ottawa has three streets named in recognition of the adjacent lake (Dow’s
Lake). The streets in the Osgoode
development form part of a planned community with many of the street names
incorporating the word “lake”, given that there are three lakes in the project
and the subdivision itself is named “Sunset Lakes.” The street in the Glebe is
older having been established circa 1862 and register in 1922 while the street
in Osgoode was developed as a natural extension of an existing street called
Sunset Blvd. built over 50 years ago.
Given that in Osgoode a greater
number of residents and businesses would be affected, their theme is stronger
and associated costs would be higher, the Department is recommending a name
change for Ottawa. However, in
recognition of the considerable community support to retain the existing name
for historical purposes, the suggested alternate names for Ottawa have
incorporated the name “Sunset” (Sunset View or Sunset Vista). Another suggested option was to become part
of the adjacent Opeongo Road, in that Sunset Blvd. curves north forming a
natural extension of Opeongo. Further,
in that the Opeongo residents have supported a petition to re-name their street
“Dow’s Lake Road” this name would retain the link to the lake for the Sunset
Blvd. residents.
Since the residents in Ottawa
remain in opposition to a name change, recommendation 3 has been structured to
provide the option to either approved the recommended name or refer the issue
to staff for further public consultation.
The specific cases in this
category are detailed in Document 3.
Recommendation 4
Pursuant to Section 210 of the Municipal Act,
to change the name of a highway, the municipality having jurisdiction must
first pass a by-law. The new name has
no effect until a certified copy of the by-law has been registered in the
Property Land Registry Office. Further,
that a notice of the proposed by-law must be published at least once a week on
four successive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the
municipality and the Council has heard any person who claims to be adversely
affected.
Prior to this meeting, notification has been
published in the local newspapers and a letter sent to those
individuals/businesses who have provided input. As indicated in the Disposition section, the Legal Services
Branch is responsible to undertake required title searches, registration and to
prepare the implementing by-law for consideration by Council as detailed in Document
9.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Street Numbering and Naming Project
|
|
Actual Project
Costs Incurred (As of August 20, 2001)
|
$265,772.00
|
Projected Expenditure to the End of the Project
Advertising:
- Legislated
advertising once a week for four consecutive weeks in the local
newspapers prior to City Council consideration of the report (*DSD).
- Media
release to the newspapers and internet/intranet is estimated at no cost
(*CS).
- Notification
to approximately 2000 residents and businesses that provided input
through the planning process including printing, purchasing envelops,
assembly and postage (*DSD).
- Notification
to the affected residents and businesses, advising of City Council’s
decision and providing details regarding specific address changes,
timing, etc., including printing, envelops, assembly and postage to approximately
30,000 units (*CS).
- Notification
to 165 emergency and service agencies including printing, envelopes,
preparation and postage (*DSD)
|
$6,000.00
Nil
$1,500.00
$30,000.00
$150.00
|
|
Legal Services:
- Title
searches and registration (*DSD)
|
$15,000.00
|
|
Street Name Signs:
To accommodate the street name changes, it will be
necessary to replace affected street signs.
A review of the affected intersections by TUPW has revealed that the
number of required signs will be 1038 with the majority of signs to be
replaced located on local streets.
Based on discussions with TUPW staff, it has been
determined that the following costs will be incurred:
- Total
number of signs (540+498) 1,038
signs
- Total
cost to supply and manufacture signs @ $107.00/sign
- Total
cost for posts and mounting brackets @ $25.00/sign
- Total
Installation cost (labor and equipment) @ $50.00/sign
Sub-total
for signs (*TUPW)
|
111,066.00
51,900.00
|
|
Total Estimated
Project Cost (subject to review and adjustment)
|
$507,338.00
|
The Ottawa
Transition Board approved the “Street Numbering and Naming” project in
2000. Total project requirements will
be funded within the approved funding envelope for transition projects.
ATTACHMENTS
Document 1 – Recommendations Affecting Specific Streets
Document 4 – Correspondence from the Police Communications
Section
Document 5 – Identified Anomalies
Document 6 – Correspondence from the 911 (PERS)
Service
Document 7 – Street Naming Best Practices Review
Document 8 – Numerical Summary of Public Input
Document 9 – Implementing By-laws
DISPOSITION
Development Services
Department is required to notify the emergency and general services, IT,
Government and identified related business agencies of Council’s decision.
Corporate Services Department
in consultation with the Development Services Department is required to notify
the affected property owners and occupants of Council’s decision.
Office of the City Solicitor
to undertake the necessary title searches and prepare the implementing by-laws
in accordance with Recommendation 3.
Transportation, Utilities and
Public Works Department to arrange for the manufacture and installation of
the required street name signs on request by the Development Services
Department.
DOCUMENT 4
The following correspondence was provided by the Ottawa Police
Communications Section in response to an inquiry regarding the importance of
clear municipal addressing.
Note: For privacy, reference to
the individual making the enquiry has been deleted.
February 27,
2001
To: Don
Brousseau
Project
Leader,
Street Naming and Numbering Project
It is important to note that the issue of duplicate
streets within the
Ottawa area is not a new concern. Duplicate streets have always caused
concern for Emergency Services in their attempts to
locate and respond to
emergencies in the most timely and efficient manner
possible. Once the new
City of Ottawa notifies Bell Canada to proceed with
identifying municipal
addresses as being part of the City of Ottawa, the
issue will be of even
greater concern. The amalgamation of the 11
municipalities within the region
provides an opportunity to address this issue in order
to provide our
citizens with the most timely and efficient emergency
response possible.
In an emergency, members of the public will usually
call either 911 or the
police emergency number (230-6211). Calls received at 911 on a land-line
identify the address the caller is calling from as
well as the name of the
subscriber.
The call taker must confirm the information provided by the
computer with the caller and ensure that the
appropriate resources are sent
to the correct location. Once the data base of Bell Canada is changed to
reflect a civic address of 'Ottawa', this confirmation
process may take
longer.
Additional time will be required to ensure that resources are not
sent to one of the many duplicate streets within the
city.
Although the resident is correct in stating that the
numbering on the two
Riverside Drives within the new city is not
duplicated, it is unrealistic to
expect call takers to be familiar with the numbering
system of the over 130
duplicate streets within the city. The quickest and most efficient manner
in identifying the location of an emergency is to
eliminate the duplication.
When callers utilize the police emergency number or
call on a cellular
telephone, the call taker identifies the location of
the emergency by
questioning the caller. Callers do not always know
where they are. Given
the state of panic of many callers, identifying their
exact location in a
timely manner can become challenging. Callers in such a predicament often
resort to locating the nearest street sign and provide
the information to
the call taker.
When that street sign bears the name of one of the
duplicate streets, additional questioning must take
place which again takes
valuable time.
Motorists driving through a neighbourhood, tourists or
visitors to an area do not often know which suburb
they are calling from.
The most efficient way to address this concern is to
eliminate duplicate
streets.
Members of all emergency services as well as 911
operators must contend with
the issue of duplicate streets on a daily basis. Recent examples of this
problem include a victim of domestic violence calling
from a pay telephone
located on one of two roads which are approximately 20
kilometers apart, an
individual in a life threatening situation located on
a street where the
name was utilized both in the rural and urban portion
of our city and a
motor vehicle accident located on one of two 9th line
roads.
The city of Ottawa has some of the best technology
available as well as
dedicated personnel to respond to emergencies. The fact remains however
that duplicate streets can and often do result in
delays when attempting to
identify the location of an emergency. Eliminating duplicate streets will
increase the efficiency of emergency personnel in
locating victims and
providing them with necessary assistance.
Paul C. Gallant
Staff Sergeant
Communication Section
Ottawa Police Service
Identified Anomalies DOCUMENT 5
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STREET NAME
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FORMER
MUNICIPALITY
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ANOMALIES
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First Ave., Second Ave., Third Ave., Forth Ave.
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Cumberland
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Private street names.
City currently has no jurisdiction to change private street names
located outside of the former City of Ottawa. Same sound to "First
Ave," “Second Ave,” “Third Ave,” and “Forth Ave” in Goulbourn and Ottawa
(duplicated streets). Notified property owner.
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2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 9th Line Roads
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Same sound for ie: Second Line and 2nd Line, Third Line and 3rd Line, Fourth Line and
4th Line but different spelling.
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Airport Parkway and Aviation Parkway
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New Ottawa
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The terms "Airport" and "Aviation"
both refer to flying and can be confusing for visitors.
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Amberley Amberly
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Gloucester
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This street has two different spellings and was registered
in 1951 on Reg Plan 555, and the other was registered in March 12, 1970 Reg
Plan 863 (Forwarding to appropriate department).
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Armstrong St
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Ottawa
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Same street name as "Armstrong Road" in
Cumberland and Gloucester (duplicated streets) but different suffix.
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Arthur Cres
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Rideau
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Same street name as "Arthur Street" in
Gloucester and Ottawa (duplicated streets) but different suffix.
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Arthur Lane
(North and South)
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Ottawa
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Same street name as “Arthur Street” in Gloucester and
Ottawa (duplicated street names) but different suffix.
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Goulbourn
Ottawa (North/South)
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Bell Street in Goulbourn is divided into two sections by a
through street (Spruce St). These two
sections of Bell Street do not meet opposite each other, but are
staggered. This causes confusion for
Emergency Services and deliveries as you have to drive down ‘Spruce St.’ in
order to get to the other side of Bell Street.
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Belleview
Bellevue
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Kanata Ottawa
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Similar in sound.
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Beechmont Crt
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Gloucester
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Same street name as “Beechmont Cres” on adjacent street in
Gloucester but different suffix. Numbering issue- identical numbers.
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Brébeuf St
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Vanier
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Joins Allen Blvd and Dollard Street. Should be renamed Dollard Street; civic
numbering issue if change occurs.
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Caledon Place
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New Ottawa
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Riverview Community Assoc. requested Caledon Place (the
location of the main post office) be
renamed Postal Way.
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Carlingwood Exit Sign
(SIGNAGE)
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New Ottawa
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Going east from the west end, there is one overhead sign
that indicates the Carling and Kirkwood exit, with down arrows above all
lanes. This indicates ALL lanes
exit. Signs should only have one
arrow above the right lane, indicating that if you want to exit at Carling
and Kirkwood, you get into the rightmost lane.
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Castlefrank Rd
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Kanata
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Two sections of this roadway are not connected. The south end runs through the Glen Cairn
and Hazeldean areas, the north runs through Kanata Lakes. Because of this confusion, it results to
mail and delivery problems.
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Cedar St
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West Carleton
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Road has not existed since 1987.
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Center St
Centre St
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Ottawa Vars, Cumberland
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Same sound but different spelling.
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Craig Henry Dr
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Nepean
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The civic numbers (and letters) have large discrepancies
on this roadway. Civic numbering to be re-issued.
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Cummings Ave
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Nepean
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Cummings Avenue and Cummings Lane in Nepean extend into
one another. If Cummings Avenue is
approved to be renamed "James Cummings Avenue,” Cummings LANE could also
be renamed "James Cummings Avenue.”
Civic numbering on Cummings Lane would have to be re-issued.
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Ducharme Blvd
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Ottawa Vanier
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Numbering issue combined with Vanier and Ottawa. Civic numbering to be re-issued.
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Fifth St
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Gloucester
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No road exists (proposed)
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First St
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Gloucester
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Same sound as "First Ave” in Goulbourn, and Ottawa
(duplicated street names), and same sound as "First Ave" (private
street name) in Cumberland. Suffix for First Street- Gloucester is different
from Goulbourn, Ottawa and Cumberland.
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Glencoe Street
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Nepean
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Naming and numbering of some homes assessed from Glencoe
Street are named Bellman.
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Grand Oak Crt / Grand Chêne Crt
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Cumberland
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Potentially confusing with Grand Bois, Grand Park,
Oaklawn, Oakward. All these streets
are in the same area.
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Greenbank Rd (# 3100)
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Resident at 3100 Greenbank Road would like his civic
address or street name changed, as ambulances experience a lot of difficulty
locating his address.
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Greenbank Rd (# 3802)
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Resident at 3802 Greenbank Road would like his civic
address changed. Sequencing problem
with Fire Station across.
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Hwy 174
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Gloucester
Cumberland
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Hwy 174 is not named.
Opportunity to clarify for safety. (Name after prominent person).
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Hwy 417 Hwy 174 (SIGNAGE)
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New Ottawa
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There are various names for the different sections of the
Queensway. Confusing for visitors.
Highway is often referred to by three different names, but no distinguishing
signage. To be forwarded to the
appropriate Department.
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Long Meadow Way
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Goulbourn
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Residents on this street would like their name changed and
are willing to submit a new name.
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Meadowland Dr
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Goulbourn
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Similar in sound to “Meadowlands Drive” in Nepean and
Ottawa. Nepean has cardinal points
(East/West) which makes it more unique.
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Old Riverside Dr/ Riverside Dr
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Ottawa
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"Old Riverside Drive" is adjacent to but not visible
from Riverside Drive causing confusion in the delivery of emergency services.
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Old St. Patrick Street/ St. Patrick Street
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Ottawa
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"Old St. Patrick Street" adjacent to the new
"St. Patrick Street" is not clearly visible and is causing
confusion in the dispatch of emergency services.
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Putman
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New Edinburgh
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This street name was changed on the assumption that
"Putnam" was misspelled.
Request submitted to have the correct spelling back to "Putnam,”
not "Putman.” (Mr. Putnam was an influential contributor in the early
days of the Ottawa settlement).
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Richardson Side Rd/ Richardson Side Rd
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Kanata West Carleton
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Richardson Side Road is duplicated in Kanata and separated
by an entire subdivision which runs into West Carleton.
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Roslyn Avenue/
Roslyn Avenue
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Gloucester
Ottawa
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Missed as a duplicate.
Original listing showed "Street" not "Avenue" in
Gloucester. On the RP #288 (1910) the suffix is "Avenue.” To be
evaluated and one street to be renamed.
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Russell Road
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Gloucester
Ottawa
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Russell Rd is divided into three segments, Industrial Rd
to Smyth Rd, St. Laurent Blvd to Hawthorne Rd and Hawthorne Rd to Baseline
Rd. This can be very confusing for dispatch/emergency services and
deliveries.
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Saumure
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Cumberland
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Confusing corner in Limoges that separates two
municipalities, Osgoode and Russell. No jurisdiction to change this road as
Russell Township is not part of the new Ottawa. Request received to rename
Saumure to Indian Creek, but civic numbering would have to change.
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Springfield Rd
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Ottawa and Rockcliffe Park (Combined)
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Springfield Road runs from Ottawa into Rockcliffe
Park. Becomes a numbering issue.
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St. Joseph St
St. Joseph Blvd
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Vars, Cumberland Orleans, Cumberland
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There is a St. Joseph Street and a St. Joseph Blvd both in
Cumberland.
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St. Pierre Rd
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Vars, Cumberland
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Same street name but different suffix as "St. Pierre
Street" in Gloucester, and Orleans Cumberland (duplicated street names).
Unable to change St. Pierre Road in Vars, Cumberland as it is in Russell
Township (outside Ottawa jurisdiction).
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Ste. Cécile
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Vanier
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This street is separated into two areas within Vanier
(Beechwood Avenue and des Pères-Blancs Avenue); these sections should be
renamed to Desrosiers Avenue.
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Stevens Ave
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Vanier
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Between Allen Blvd and Carmen Avenue. Should be renamed
Allen Blvd. Residents who are located
in the middle and east section of roadway, would also change their civic
numbering.
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Sunnyside Ave
Sunnyside Dr
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Ottawa
Goulbourn
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Same street name but different suffix.
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Walker Rd
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Goulbourn
Osgoode
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Walker Road in Goulbourn is closed.
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Wellington St
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Ottawa
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Street is divided into three sections, one which no longer
exists and the remaining to which are not physically linked.
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Wilshire/
Wiltshire
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Ottawa
Nepean
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Similar in sound, potential hazard for emergency dispatch.
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Woodcrest Rd
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New Ottawa
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The suffix for Woodcrest “Road” should be a
"Crescent" not a "Road.” To be verified.
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General
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New Ottawa
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Continuous roadways with different street names over the
length of the street.
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General
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New Ottawa
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Identical street names with different suffixes.
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General
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New Ottawa
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Similar sounding names.
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General
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New Ottawa
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The naming of major arterial roadways or Hwys. where they
are classified by number. ie: Hwy 174 (also see above reference)
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General
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New Ottawa
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Various roadways, for example: Bell Street in Goulbourn
are split and offset to a distance that can create potential confusion for
Emergency Services and deliveries. In order to get to other side of Bell
Street, one must drive on dividing road to get to other side/section of this
street.
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General
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New Ottawa
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Several municipalities have identical cross roads with
duplicate street names, possibly different suffixes.
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General
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New Ottawa
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Numbering Grid System - The existing system of numbering buildings
and properties on major arterial roadways that traverse the City varies
greatly between former municipalities.
There is a need to develop a plan and strategy for a consistent
numbering system that can provide enough flexibility in the numbering sequence
to accommodate future growth. This is
particularly important where a roadway traverses a large area of the
City. The plan would also assist
emergency services and the general public by providing an indication as to
what sector of the City a particular property is located on a major roadway.
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General
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Property Identification Program - The identification of
all rural property by the use of the civic address blade as part of the 911
program is complete. The review of
existing addressing practices undertaken by the City in 1998 revealed in
percentile the display of civic numbers by land use category. The conclusion
was that addresses are not always displayed and where displayed it may be
obstructed, too small to read, not clearly visible both day and night,
etc. As a result, Emergency Services
can be delayed when locating a property due to the lack of or inadequate
signage. As in the case of the rural
properties, there is a need to undertake a program to identify properties
within the urban area that are not sufficiently identified. The property owners would subsequently be
advised of the need for proper identification in the delivery of emergency
services with minimal confusion and delay.
There is a need to identify,
Public Buildings and Properties; Tunney’s Pasture, Ottawa International
Airport, Rockcliffe Air Base, N.C.C., Canal Ln., N.R.C.
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General
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Parks are not identified by civic number.
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General
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New Ottawa
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Most major intersection street signs have no suffix. ie:
Woodroffe/West Hunt Club, former Nepean.
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General
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New Ottawa
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Ensure that all roadways/intersections have street
signs. Signage missing at intersection of Baseline/Richmond, former Nepean.
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General
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New City
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Inconsistent numbering sequence on continuous roadways,
example: Meadowcroft Cres. where numbers jump from the 100 series to the 1100
series.
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Letter from the Manager of Bell 911 Service DOCUMENT 6
March 12, 2001
Mr. Don Brousseau
Project Leader
Naming and Numbering of Street, Buildings and Property
Development Services Department
Flr. 2, Rideau Pavilion
111 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1N
5A1
SUBJECT: BELL CORPORATE DATABASE RECORDS/ADDRESSING
Dear Mr. Brousseau:
The database provided by Bell is derived from subscriber
records, which includes addresses assigned by the municipality. These addresses
were approved according to bylaws passed to formally register the name.
Municipal names follow a similar structure that requires not only local bylaws
but provincial legislation also. Such is the case with the former eleven
municipalities of the Region, now officially known as the City of Ottawa. It is
also important to mention that prior to amalgamation, community areas,
regardless of former historical structure did not reflect a legal municipal
name (i.e.) - Manotick, North Gower.
The municipal name was Rideau Township. Bell customer records would
reflect the legal municipal name as Rideau Township in this example.
Bell’s mandate for 9-1-1 service is to provide a database,
which includes a telephone subscriber’s name, civic address and telephone
number. The municipality, as mentioned above, assigns addresses, and Bell
assigns telephone numbers for their subscribers, as do other telephone service
providers. For clarification, an address consists of a civic number, street
name, suffix and directional indicator if applicable (i.e.) - 2345 Jones Rd. East, Ottawa.
Changes affecting a municipal structure, in particular the
City of Ottawa amalgamation will require our customer record database to be
updated to reflect the municipal name change. This same database provides
information for several different applications, in particular 9-1-1. Our
customer record information should reflect the legal infrastructure of each
municipality based on official name, street names, numbering, etc. Once an
address is officially changed by the municipality, we are advised and update
our customer records accordingly. We do not perpetuate outdated address
information. This is the case for all Bell customer records in Ontario and
Quebec.
For the purposes of
9-1-1 address delivery, it is imperative the customer address profile
matches the mapping information provided by the municipality. This data
reflects the legal municipal name (Ottawa) and the street names assigned
according to bylaws. 9-1-1 calls are routed to the respective emergency
agencies based on municipal name(s) and streets assigned within a given
municipality. Duplicate streets with one municipal name could potentially cause
9-1-1 routing errors to the incorrect police, fire or ambulance dispatch, based
on emergency zones assigned by the municipality/emergency agencies.
The issue of duplicate or even similar sounding street names
has long been a concern of emergency agencies. As a result of amalgamation,
this becomes an even greater concern for public safety. Any delay in response
time can have a catastrophic affect on life and/or property threatening
incidents. As of January 1, 2001, all addresses formerly in the Region of
Ottawa-Carleton legally became the City of Ottawa. Bell customer records, as
with many other corporate databases will be updated to reflect this change once
the duplicate street name project has been completed.
Bell Canada did not initiate or participate in municipal
restructuring, which has created the duplicate street issue. Bell will continue
to support its mandate to maintain customer records that reflect a legal
municipal structure. Duplicate street names have occurred by the virtual fact
there were eleven municipal names prior to January 1, 2001. Now there is one,
the City of Ottawa.
Address changes are not unique to Ottawa and are occurring
throughout the Province of Ontario due to amalgamations. No doubt some
municipalities have expedited the process and are further along with their
plans than others. The Greater Toronto area will also be updating former
municipal names and establishing guidelines for duplicate street names but to
date the project status has not moved as quickly as Ottawa.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide background relative
to your street-naming project.
Regards,
Lynda Jenkins – Manager, 9-1-1 Service – Bell/Ontario
Original Signed by Lynda Jenkins
