Road signs were put up.

Thursday, January 24, 2002

Road signs were put up. Notifications were mailed out. Installations of residence number poles are in progress. But some people still have a hard time understanding – or accepting – the new rural addressing system.

Randy Tuchtenhagen, the county environmental services director, has been receiving as many as 15 calls questioning the new system every day. This week, he was notified one resident had removed the address sign and pole from his yard.

&uot;It is against the ordinance, and is subject to possible criminal prosecution,&uot; Tuchtenhagen said.

A lot of questions derive from the long string of numbers assigned to each address.

For example, an old address of RR 4 Box 16, Albert Lea, is now 24791 770th Ave.

The benefit of the new system is that you can get the location of the house by glancing at the address.

In this case, the house is located somewhere on 770th Ave, a road that runs south to north. A road running west to east is a street.

The residence number, 24791, narrows down the location. It tells that the address is north of 245th Street and the south of 250th Street. The distance from 245 St. is 0.291 mile, which is a thousandth of 24791 minus 24500.

The last digit, 1, means the house is on the west side of the avenue. Odd residence numbers prior to the avenue name signify the west side, and even numbers mean the east. Likewise, odd residence numbers before the street name means the south side, and even numbers means the north.

Another example: 82554 130 St.

You are on somewhere on 130th Street between 820th Avenue and 830th Avenue. The distance in miles from 820th Avenue is a thousandths of 82554 (the address) minus 82000 (derived from 820th Avenue – 820 with two zeroes added on the end). The formula tells you the house is 0.554 miles from 820th Avenue.

In this case, the house has an even residence number on the street. Therefore, the address shows that the house is located on the north side of the street.

County officials remind residents that the system is based on a geographical location. The residence numbers are not sequential, like those in the City of Albert Lea. 82544’s next door can be 82592. Again, this indicates that the two houses are 0.048 miles -&160;one thousandth of 82592 minus 82544 – away from each other.

The new address might be long and sound too mechanical. But it is extremely helpful for emergency dispatches or people who are unfamiliar with the geography.

Residence number poles are placed at a distance where they can be read from a vehicle driving on the roads. Ambulance drivers and police officers can spot the house where they have to go without a mistake or delay.

The new address system is also congenial to the Law Enforcement Center’s renovated 911 system, which can pinpoint the origin of a call on the dispatcher’s computer screen.

&uot;It is a safety issue,&uot; Tuchtenhagen said.

He is asking residents not to take away the residence number poles. The county is installing the signs at no cost. But a re-installation of removed pole would be charged to the property owner, he said.

Answers for frequently asked questions about the rural addressing and a new road map are available at on a Web site, http://co.freeborn.mn.us/specproj/.