Residents still need road numbers

By ROBERT JAMES

Managing Editor

Even though the county road names are being converted from numbers to names, GIS technician Gary Falcon is urging residents not to attempt to change their mail delivery address until notified that their road name has been officially changed.

The post office and the Boundary County GIS office will send letters to residents when it is time to change their address to the new road names instead of the road numbers, Falcon said.

Right now, there are no home addresses assigned to the new road names, so the post office, UPS and other delivery services have no way of delivering mail and packages to any "new road" address, Falcon said.

"What's going on is we haven't got numbers and people see the signs going up and they go and try to change their mailing and physical address," Falcon said. "We're not ready for that yet. House numbers have not been assigned."

The renaming project has been going on for three and a half years, Falcon said.

He is not sure how long the process will take to complete.

Once it is done, all residents will have a unique house address instead of a rural route, said Bonners Ferry postmaster Brenda Duncan.

That will also help with 911 emergency calls as responders will be directed to the exact address, she added.

Whenever it is finished and everyone has a complete address assigned based on the new road names, those residents will be notified by the post office and BC GIS, Falcon said.

Until then, residents should continue using their current physical address description if they get mail delivered on a county road.

For more information, visit www.boundarycountyid.org or call Brenda Duncan at 267-3302.