Springdale Names Street In Memory Of Child

Cities Vary In Their Rules For Naming And Renaming Streets

SPRINGDALE -- Herbert and Laura Hughes' 6-year-old daughter died 40 years ago. Now the city is naming a street after their child.

The City Council approved Jennifer Terrace as a street name at their meeting last week. The street is on land once owned by the Hughes, and will provide access to the new Neighborhood Market and some homes in the area, Herbert Hughes said.

AT A GLANCE

Northwest Arkansas Streets Named After Prominent People

Fayetteville

• Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard

• Archibald Yell Boulevard

• Fulbright Expressway

Springdale

• Don Tyson Parkway

• Har-Ber Avenue (Harvey and Berniece Jones)

Rogers

• Pauline Whitaker Parkway

• J.B. Hunt Drive

Bentonville

• Walton Boulevard

• Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway

• John Deshields Boulevard

Source: Staff Report

AT A GLANCE

General Street Naming Rules And Practices

Fayetteville

• Street names cannot repeat.

• No more than six streets can start with the same word.

• Streets cannot be named after people unless approved by the City Council.

Springdale

• Cul-de-sac are named cove, lane, place or terrace.

• East-west streets are called avenues.

• North to south streets are called streets.

• All streets between 40th and 64th streets must be numbered streets.

Rogers

• East to west streets have non-numerical names.

• North to south streets are numbered.

• Residents must be notified if their street name is going to change.

Bentonville

• Streets cannot be named after a person unless approved by City Council.

• East-west streets are avenues or boulevards.

• North-south streets are roads or streets.

• Cul-de-sacs are named cove, lane, place or terrace.

Source: Staff Report

New streets are usually named by the developer of an area, said Clayton Sedberry, Springdale planning and geographic information systems coordinator. In this case, the city built the street while constructing the new interchange for Interstate 49. It was during that period when the Hughes asked the street be named after their daughter.

Jennifer was the Hughes'youngest daughter, and she loved living in the undeveloped and country-like area, Herbert Hughes said. She liked to run, play and ride bikes on the family's property.

Jennifer went trick-or-treating on Halloween of 1973, but came home early because she was having trouble breathing, Hughes said. She was diagnosed with cancer a month later.

Jennifer died in April 1974, 15 days before her seventh birthday, Hughes said. The radiation and chemotherapy treatments lowered her resistance to other illnesses like the pneumonia which caused her death.

Hughes recalled his daughter asking to go outdoors one spring day. He carried her to the field behind their house, and she sang a song she sang often.

"'Oh, what a beautiful morning'," Hughes said Jennifer sang. ""Oh, what a beautiful day. I've got a beautiful feeling everything's going my way'."

The Hughes' wanted the street named Jennifer's Way, like the line at the end of the song, Hughes said. The City Council approved Jennifer Terrace.

Officials chose terrace because of an ordinance that designates how streets will be named, Sedberry said. The street is a cul-de-sac and cul-de-sacs can only be called cove, lane, place or terrace.

Different cities have different rules, Sedberry said. College Avenue in Fayetteville, for example, is a north to south street. Avenues in Springdale run east and west.

Fayetteville also has other rules, like not allowing street names to repeat and not having streets named after people, said Ryan Dickerson, Fayetteville geographic information systems technician and 911 addressing coordinator. Officials sometimes make exceptions and name a street after an individual.

Springdale and Rogers don't have rules against naming streets after people, according to officials.

It is uncommon for a street to be named after a person in Bentonville, said Beau Thompson, planner. He said he's worked in the city eight years and the only street to be renamed after a person was when Northeast S Street was changed to Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.

To name a new street after a person, or to rename a street after a person, the City Council must approve the action, Thompson said.

Renaming a street in general is uncommon in Rogers, said Derrel Smith, city planner. The last time street names were changed in Rogers was a few years ago when Fire Department officials requested all streets have a north, south, east or west designation to help speed response times.

Changing street names can have a negative impact. It can be difficult for residents, because they have to change their addresses with service providers, Smith said. It can also cause deliveries from services like United Parcel Service and FedEx to arrive late or not at all, because the name of the street is different, Sedberry said.

"They're usually the last to get the information," he said. "There's always going to be hiccups when you change a street name."

The changes can cause difficulties and confusion in dispatch for fire and police departments, Dickerson said. Street names are in dispatch system for years, and dispatchers might be familiar with the old street name, but not the new one.

Bentonville officials avoid renaming streets because it can slow emergency response, Thompson said. Firefighters and police officers are familiar with street names and might not know where a street is if it has a new name.

People requesting a name change for a street in Fayetteville, Springdale or Rogers must make their request to the city, according officials. City councils ultimately vote on the request, but in Fayetteville, a council member must be the one to present the change.

NW News on 09/14/2014

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