Johnnie St. Vrain: Direction on Longmont’s street names - Longmont Times-Call

Dear Readers: Here’s one from the archives. Please take time this long weekend to reflect on the privileges you enjoy thanks to the sacrifice that others have made.

Dear Johnnie: Why doesn’t Longmont use street direction indication — north, south, east, west — on all its address designations? This city only lists a street as either south or east — it never refers to addresses as being north or west — i.e. 307 S. Main St. or 307 Main St., 300 E. Third Ave. or 300 Third Ave.

Visitors new to your city cannot find their way around — it is so easy to figure location when streets indicate north, south, east or west. You can always find your way around any city when addresses are listed this way. Just want to know why it was decided to omit these designations in Longmont? What was the thinking? — Florence

Dear Florence: Longmont once had no directional designations on its streets, probably because there was a time when the city was too small for it to matter. After all, is there a need for north-south-east-west designations when city streets are only few blocks long?

But it started mattering in 1963, when the City Council passed Ordinance No. 726. This ordinance established the “East” designation for all avenues east of Martin Street. City planner Ben Ortiz was kind enough to track that down for Johnnie.

I took that piece of information and headed to the Times-Call archives, where I discovered that in 1963, the Mayor’s Special Committee for Street Renaming was charged with creating order out of Longmont’s street names. It was a time when new neighborhoods were sprouting on what was then the edge of town, and when previously separate roadways began to connect. A number of the city’s prominent street names became prominent thanks to the special committee.

When searching for a photo to represent Longmont street names, Johnnie happened upon this one-of-a kind image of a house crossing Longs Peak on its way to a new address. In the early 1960s, the city changed the name of Longs Peak Avenue to Seventh Avenue, but residents protested. (Matthew Jonas / Longmont Times-Call)

For instance, Ogden Street gave way to Gay Street, and Hygiene Road became 17th Street. Nelson Road became Florida Avenue (which has since become Ken Pratt Boulevard). Even Longs Peak Avenue lost its name and became Seventh Avenue, until public outcry caused the City Council to reverse its decision.

The changes were made so that motorists could find their way around more easily, but more importantly to avoid confusion in the case of emergencies. If one strip of pavement in the city had two names (Gay and Ogden), it could be a problem if there were a house fire on that street.

As to the “East” designation, I did not find specific reference to that in the reports I read, but given that it came in 1963, I would not be surprised if it was the work of the special committee. If I were to take a guess on why “East” was added and “West” was not (and I will guess), I would say that it’s because most of the existing addresses were west of Martin Street and growth was happening east of Martin. Thus, newer addresses would be given the “East” designation. Further, the railroad tracks, which cut most of the city in half, run along Martin, so it’s a natural (er, man-made) divider. The result would be the same: Motorists and emergency responders would have a clear delineation between the two portions of east-west streets.

In an email to Johnnie, Ortiz said that in 1995, the “South” designation was added to the Longmont Municipal Code and can be found in Chapter 13.32.030. It reads: “Whenever a street extends south of First Avenue, it shall carry the same name as that street running north of First Avenue; except that it shall be designated as “south.” The railroad track also happens to run along First Avenue, and you will find that in general, development south of First Avenue is newer than development north of First Avenue.

But Ortiz put it more simply: “The short answer is that ‘north’ and ‘west’ designations were never included in the original code amendments and are therefore not used today.

“For travelers to the fair City of Longmont, they only need to know two rules: If the street is labeled with an “East” designation … then the address can be found east of Martin Street with the numbers ascending as one travels east from Martin Street. If the street has a south designation, then the address can be found south of First Avenue. In the latter case, the numbers will ascend as one travels south from First Avenue.”

By the way, in searching through 1963 Times-Calls, I discovered that was the year outhouses were outlawed in Longmont.

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Johnnie St. Vrain: Direction on Longmont’s street names - Longmont Times-Call
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