HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – A $250,000 project in Cabell County to help re-address homes and businesses is entering its final stages.

The goal is to join a statewide format that will make street numbers and names more universal. This will allow first responders to find homes faster in an emergency.

The effort has been underway for more than two years and has faced pandemic and financial hurdles, but county leaders say it’s a necessary step.

“If you ever try to locate anything on Route 60, you can see the mess we have there,” said Cabell 911 manager Mike Davis. many places. So if you get a visitor trying to locate a business, sometimes it’s not easy and google maps won’t help you because the data is not accurate. They will get all our data when we finish the project. »

Crews completed work in Culloden, Salt Rock and Branchland. This week, affected Lesage residents will receive letters in the mail. The next ones will be Milton and Ona.

Final postcodes will be in Barboursville and Huntington.

There are growing pains with the project as different agencies work to be on the same page.

Randall Johnson lives in Salt Rock and changed his address last year. But there was confusion when he needed help in an emergency.

“I called an ambulance on February 23. My mother-in-law had a stroke; the ambulance couldn’t find us,” he said.

He stood by the road and waited for EMS to arrive, but instead they were routed to the same address in West Hamlin in Lincoln County.

“I’m afraid that mapping our entire EMS neighborhood won’t find anyone,” he said.

We asked Kris Gibson, Mapping and Addressing Coordinator, who tells WSAZ that staff are undergoing training and dispatchers are now asking callers for additional information, such as whether the address is new.

“It will be better when the project is finished and as time goes on, nobody likes change, but it’s a good change, for the better,” he said.

Cabell County Commissioner Jim Morgan said Cabell was the last county in the state to complete the work.

Officials hope the project will be completed by the end of the year.

For any questions or concerns, you can contact the project managers at the coordinates below.

Mapping and addressing Phone: 304-526-6552

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cabellcounty911

Email: [email protected]

Website: click here.

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