Gauthier Street in St-Isidore will soon have a new name, Bonneville Street.
The Nation Municipality council approved the change on May 27 because there are no additional address numbers available for the street. The lowest civic address number on Gauthier Street is 2, but a new, multi-dwelling property is located beside it on the even-numbered side of the street. A report from the Planning Department also explains that in 2009 staff recommended changing the street name to end confusion between Gauthier Street in St-Isidore and Gauthier Circle in St-Bernardin. However, council at that time rejected any name change.
This time, the name will be changed on Gauthier Street and all of the addresses renumbered to accommodate the new dwellings and end the duplication with Gauthier Circle.
“If we have the same names of streets in the municipality, there is a possibility of confusion for emergency services,” Director of Planning Guylain Laflèche said.
Councillor Tim Stewart said that as a paramedic, he is aware of emergency situations where duplicated street names made it difficult for paramedics to know where to respond, resulting in unnecessary additional suffering and one death.
“The person died because of a mix-up between two roads in the same area with the same name,” Stewart said.
He acknowledged the renaming and renumbering may be an inconvenience with some costs for residents, but if he was living on that road, he would want the name to be as clear as possible.
“There’s other roads we should probably be looking at as well,” added Stewart.
Planning department staff will prepare a notice for residents of Gauthier Street in St-Isidore advising them of the changes.
