Now that the state has finished widening New Franklin Road - U.S. 27 - north of LaGrange, two roads on the old alignment should be given different names to avoid confusion for emergency responders, county engineer James Emery said.

The county agreed eight years ago to maintain the abandoned sections once the project was completed.

“The DOT just made it official that the project is complete and the roads are now ours,” Emery told county commissioners Friday.

One of the roads, which is less than two miles, includes Hillcrest School, Small Engine City, Tall Tales Bait & Tackle and other commercial establishments, in addition to several homes, all with New Franklin Road addresses, but “the new alignment is New Franklin Road now,” Emery said.

“There may be some property owners with a U.S. 27 or State Route 1 address, and it’s no longer a state or federal highway,” Emery said. “It’s a county road now, so you can’t have an address on a state or federal highway.”

He said if someone calls 911 in need of an ambulance, the ambulance may go back and forth on the wrong road.

“We need an official name change, something that’s unique so there will be no confusion in the future,” Emery said. “It needs to be changed one way or another.”

The family of the late Robert Hayes Sr. has asked the county to name it after him because he started the family’s long history in the Hillcrest community. Emery said he likes the idea because “it’s unique and there can be no confusion whatsoever.”

Another abandoned section of New Franklin Road comes out at the sharp curve on the new alignment. It has five property owners and “we can’t leave those as New Franklin Road addresses,” Emery said. He said it may be a good idea to call it Fernwood Drive because the former road by that name was absorbed by the widening project.

“We might need more input from property owners in the area and see if there’s another name that would be acceptable to them,” he said.

A quarter-mile road that turns off Hannah Road and goes toward the LaGrange Shrine Club also needs a name. The county has maintained the dirt-and-gravel road for several years and the homes have been using Hannah Road as an address, but they don’t have any frontage on the road.

“Nobody ever noticed or complained,” said Emery, who found the discrepancy while doing maintenance work in the area.

Emery said Jones Brothers donated the property and “Jones Brothers Drive” would be a good name.

Meanwhile, the county has two roads with the name of Mandybrook Drive. They were supposed have been connected during a subdivision development, but the design changed.

Emery recommended the shorter of the two roads be renamed Smokemont Drive because it’s already aligned with the existing Smokemont Drive.

The County Commission is expected to vote on the road name changes in about a month after letters go out to all the affected property owners and there has been time for advertising and public comment.

There may be complaints from property owners about having to change addresses, Emery said, but, “We wouldn’t do it if wasn’t necessary.”

In other matters, the commissioners received a petition Friday signed by an estimated 60 residents of Waugh subdivision off New Franklin Road who say they’re being harassed by two neighbors.

The petition said the two neighbors “call 911 and complain about every little thing like parking on the side of the roadway or if someone’s grass has not been cut and … marshals and sheriff’s deputies jump when they call. They have better things to do.”

“The county is talking about closing schools,” the petition continued. “We want the county to start charging after three calls have been made to 911 that are not considered an emergency like they charge for false burglar alarms.

“We are getting tired of being harassed by these two people. We pay our property taxes and are tired of people trying to tell us what to do on our property. The next step will be to file a lawsuit against these two people and the county for harassment.”

One woman wrote a note on the petition that said her daughter is afraid to get on the school bus because a man in the subdivision “is filming this bus stop and he watches her through a crack in the door.” The woman said she’s contacted the school board and made “countless” reports to the sheriff’s office.

“This is a severe matter that needs to stop,” she said.

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.