Neighborhood nightmare: Raleigh address changes cause confusion

For 40 years, residents lived on Newton Road, but there was a second Newton Road running off of it, so the name of the second road was changed to Sandy Creek Drive.

Raleigh's Fire Marshall said for years first responders have been driving by the Sandy Creek Condominiums, not realizing they were on Newton Road.

As of July 1, the neighborhood is now officially on Sandy Creek Drive, but computer systems across the city have not caught up with the change.

"I have tried to update my address with the bank. The address doesn't exist," said Shae Kramer. "I have a home warrantee, the address doesn't exist, registering my daughter for school, bring a current utility bill, doesn't exist."

The numerical addresses involved in the confusion also changed from three digits to four.

"I've seen UPS and FedEx driving around in circles," said Bill Hanley. "We weren't happy because we kind of got used to the old address. We'd like to keep it."

Hanley and his wife, Karen, have lived in the community for 7.5 years. They said they understand the city's reasoning, but they are not sure the change is going to make it better.

"It is a bigger problem now," said Karen Hanley. "I'm not sure how long it will be before it can be straightened out."

"I've never seen an incident where the fire department or first responders have had a problem. So it just seemed rather strange," Bill Hanley said.

Raleigh Fire Marshal Chief Keith Tessinear said the situation was brought to him by the local fire station. They evaluated it, agreed there was a safety issue and brought it to the city.

He says the street should have been Sandy Creek Drive from the beginning to avoid confusion.

John Boyette with the City of Raleigh said they were unaware there was a problem and are encouraging homeowners in the neighborhood to contact the city directly at the number on the letter that was sent out.