Oct. 20--GLENBURN TWP. -- Starting as early as January, rural routes within Glenburn Twp. will be renamed in an effort to aid emergency crews responding to calls.

The 911 addressing project in Glenburn began 18 months ago in response to residents' concerns. Officials hired PoconoGIS Inc., a Saylorsburg firm, to map the township and identify changes that could be made to make addresses more clear for emergency crews. All together, the project cost less than $10,000, supervisors said.

Rural routes will be rechristened with route numbers selected by PoconoGIS, according to Supervisor Bill Wicks. The project also addresses township anomalies, like the area where Gravel Pond Road intersects with another Gravel Pond Road, supervisors said.

Township officials did not have an exact number of residents affected by the coming changes. PoconoGIS will send letters to affected residents starting early next year.

Before identifying which roads will be renamed, PoconoGIS crews "walked the whole township, knocking on doors and gathering information," Supervisor Frank Berardelli said. Then they compared that information to that in databases and came up with recommendations for what changes should be made.

"At one point, they wanted to change everyone's address," Mr. Wicks said. "We didn't want that. We're trying to make this the last time people will ever have their addresses changed."

Contact the writer: enissley@timesshamrock.com

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