Street names to change

Carson City may become slightly less complicated for drivers next year when seven streets are combined, leaving two names for a loop road around the east side.

The roadway starts at the intersection of West College Parkway and Highway 395 and travels east as it turns into East College Parkway, East Graves Lane, Graves Lane, North Edmonds Drive, South Edmonds Drive and ends as Fairview Drive, where it meets Highway 395 again.

City officials decided last week to eliminate several names and leave East College Parkway to designate the portion between Highway 395 and Highway 50, and name the rest of the road Fairview Drive.

Carson City businesses were not opposed to changing the names, said Carson City Area Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Larry Osborne. But businesses along the road wanted enough time to be able to adjust to the change.

"The main thing was the time frame for advance notice," Osborne said.

The names will officially change July 1, 2005. After that, postal service will continue to deliver mail with old addresses for another year.

In the meantime, the city will continually notify affected properties and businesses, letting them know about the upcoming changes.

"So we make sure everybody gets all their contacts notified," said Geographical Information Services Coordinator Scott Royal.

City planners sought the name change to meet an economic development strategic plan that identified a need to accommodate traffic with additional corridors. The change is expected to help marketing, access and location of businesses along the corridor, Royal said.

The change will affect about 30 businesses.

City supervisors had several choices, including naming the entire roadway a single name. It was suggested to name it "Capital Parkway," with Highway 50 dividing it north and south. Supervisors instead decided to use existing names, as recommended by the Regional Transportation Commission.

Contact Jill Lufrano at jlufrano@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.