Concern about road name change

Changes in local road names over the past few weeks brought about confusion and concern about house and business street numbers.
Council changed several street names to Albertina Sisulu Road.
Road names that have changed include Broadway Extension, Allum Extension, Kitchener Avenue, Bezuidenhout Avenue and Market Street.
Residents said as the streets flow into each other, each street had its own set of numbers.
With all these streets now claiming one street name, they are afraid of duplicate numbers.
Clr Carlos da Rocha, ward 66, said the numbers have to change as soon as possible. “If there was a number 26 Broadway Extension and a 26 Kitchener Avenue, not changing the numbers immediately could be problematic. Now both will be 26 Albertina Sisulu Road,” he said.

Members of the public said this could be confusing and risky especially if someone calls for an ambulance or police. Mr Gabu Tugwana, spokesperson for City of Johannesburg (CoJ), said the existing street addresses in each of the affected properties will be replaced by new street numbers linked to the new street name.
“If the affected citizens want to know about the house numbers that are going to change, we need clarification. “They could be referring to the stand number which is obviously not going to change. If they refer to a house number that was allocated by the developer for their own purposes, such as auditing of the houses built, that is also of no relevance to the newly allocated street address. If the house numbers in question refer to the existing street addresses, then those will obviously change to a new number linked to the new street name,” he said.
He added that the city expects every affected property owner to comply with this new change.
CoJ’s intention to rename the above roads to Albertina Sisulu Road, date back several years.
According to a council document, the renaming process was initiated by the city at the request of the Gauteng Provincial Government. The intention was to ensure continuity with the process that had already been undertaken in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.
The Gauteng Provincial Government renamed portions of the R24 in Ekurhuleni to Albertina Sisulu Road.
For purposes of consistency and operational efficiency, council supported the renaming proposal and approved the commencement of the public consultation process in July 2008.