Roadway Naming Standards

Roadway Names

Every roadway (public or private) requires a name.To insure that uniformity is followed and to preclude difficulties with this, the 911 Enhanced Department will assist local authorities and private owners with the naming and numbering of roadways.

The 911 System precludes having two roadways with the same name in any jurisdiction. A database of current names will be maintained by the 911 Enhanced Department and will be available to assist local authorities in naming roadways.

Wherever possible, when a new roadway is created a unique name should be selected for the roadway.The following rules shall be kept in view during that process:

  1. Avoid family or individual names of living persons.
  2. If the road is continuous, do not change names at an intersection, a curve or some other point, including changing of political jurisdictions.
  3. Avoid sound-a-like names (e.g., Bay View Drive, Bayview Drive; or Brainard Lane, Barnard Lane).
  4. Use the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) Recommended Format for roadway names (i.e., Prefix Directional - 2 characters; Street Name - maximum of 40 characters; Street Suffix - 4 characters; and Post Directional - 2 characters).
  5. Do not use special characters in roadway names such as hyphens, apostrophes or dashes.
  6. Avoid the use of standard prefix, suffix and post directional as roadway names (e.g., North Boulevard, Court Street, Boulevard of the Allies).
  7. Avoid the use of non-standard street name suffixes which may be confused with subdivisions or commercial developments (Top's Plaza, Elmira Place).

Private Roadways

Some private roadways will need to be named. Whenever two or more residences/businesses are reached off a common private roadway a name should be given to the roadway and it should be numbered in accordance with the general rules herein.

The Ordinance requires that owners who need to or are required to post private roadways must have the chosen name and address reviewed by the local authorities and the 911 Enhanced Department.The New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law prohibits posting/maintaining any such sign that is in view of or upon any public roadway.