Three V.I. communities – one each on St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix – have been selected to be the first in the territory to get actual street names and standard addresses this year, according to a news release from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
Shawna Richards, director of communications for the lieutenant governor, said the office is not ready to identify which communities have been selected for the pilot process.
"We’re still in the process of notifying the communities, so I can’t share that information at this time," she said, adding that a pilot community has been selected on each island. “We will be working with two downtown areas and one suburban/residential community," Richards said.
The pilot project is under the direction of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor in partnership with the University of the Virgin Islands’ Eastern Caribbean Center. The pilot project is the initial component of introducing Virgin Islanders to a standardized addressing system for the territory’s roads. The lieutenant governor’s office is custodian of the territory’s geographic information systems (GIS) data and directed a study of the territory’s existing addressing environment.
The territory’s GIS system and its emergency 911 system are hampered by the lack of consistent, standardized street address.
In the case of emergency response, for instance, the 911 system allows emergency operators to type in an address, which then shows up on a computerized map in the responding police, fire or medical vehicle. But V.I. homes don’t have standard addresses, so that part of the system doesn’t function. Ambulances, police cars and engines still have to prowl through neighborhoods looking for the right street, then the right house on the street, often in the dark.
The GIS is a sophisticated computer system that allows data from a variety of sources to be pulled together, making planning and providing services more efficient. Almost anywhere in the states, the driver of a GPS-equipped car can type in an address and get directions to the location. Not so in the territory today. But with conventional addresses that too could become a reality.
In Tuesday’s news release, Lt. Governor Gregory Francis said he is eager for street addressing to become a reality in the territory.
“The lack of a standardized addressing system affects more than the ability of our residents and tourists to navigate our streets with ease,” Francis said. “It is a public safety issue that we are committed to improve.”
Francis said he hopes the pilot projects will boost community participation in the street addressing initiative.
“Address assignment cannot take place on unnamed roads. Street addressing is a community initiative and community participation is critical to our goal of achieving addressing throughout our community.”
Francis is calling on residents to work together within their communities to collect and submit their street name recommendations to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. Representatives of the project team are also available to meet with neighborhood associations to discuss the street addressing initiative.
Further information can be obtained from Chris George, GIS coordinator/SAI project manager, at 1-340-776-8505 ext. 4321 or by email at vistreets@lgo-vi.gov.
