Rankin Inlet (Aug 02/06) - The final stage of a project bringing proper street signs to the hamlet of Rankin Inlet was completed this past week.

Funding for the $28,000 initiative was provided by the hamlet and the Department of Economic Development and Transportation.

Hamlet SAO John Hodgson says there were a number of reasons why the municipality proceeded with the project, the most pressing of which was to bring a sense of order to hamlet streets.

He says the new street signs are tied directly to a house-numbering program the hamlet initiated about four years ago.

"Entities such as the post office, phone company and power corporation have been insisting on house numbers and street names for awhile now," says Hodgson.

"In fact, we were receiving five phone calls a day at the hamlet office from people who couldn't get their phone hooked up or a post office box without a proper house number and street name.

"Proper street names and house numbers are also a huge benefit to emergency responders... such as fire, police and ambulance."

Hodgson says even though the signs have only been in place for a short while, people are referring to their street by its proper name.

That's something you rarely heard in the past, he says.

"In addition to the safety aspect, there's also an economic-development aspect because businesses can now tie people to their properties.

"That helps both a business and its clients."

The hamlet wanted to be able to easily identify addresses and the two systems have helped accomplish that, he says.

House-numbering maps, which include the street names, have become popular in the hamlet, he says.

"You're seeing more and more of the maps in different offices around the community on a daily basis.

"Numerous offices have asked us for one, including the health unit and social services, because it's an easier way of keeping track of people.

"The project was a little slow to develop after council approved it about a year ago. But, when you see the benefits and experience the system's ease of use, it was well worth the wait."