Change can be necessary, especially in a city where 40 streets — including Main — share their names with at least one other street.
Edmundston's duplicate name problem was created in the late 1990s, when the city amalgamated with the municipalities of Saint-Basile, Saint-Jacques and Verret.
Many of the street names in the new city were never changed, leaving residents, tourists and first responders to take wrong turns for more than 20 years.
"Some street names appear in doubles and some appear in triples throughout the city," said Nicole Lang, a member of the Edmundston place naming committee.
Even the post office has faced an assortment of challenges.
"People complain that their mail gets in late," she said. "They have a lot of delays because the mail was delivered to the wrong post office in city limits."
Rue Principale, or Main Street, seems a misnomer, when there is more than one in the same town. It causes GPS problems.
"They want to go to Rue Principale in Saint-Basile, but they will end up on Rue Principale in Saint-Jacques," Lang said.
Problems for politicians
Even Stephen Harper had trouble getting around Edmundston when he was prime minister. His bus stopped at a woman's home instead of the hotel he was supposed to visit on Main Street.
"They were coming for brunch at the inn, but the inn wasn't there," she said.
At the time, many people weren't happy about the creation of the larger city. But now, Lang feels they're ready to talk about the necessary changes.
The city set up a place-naming committee a couple of years ago.
When you talk about change it's never easy.- Nicole Lang
The first thing the committee did was identify all the street names that appear two or three times.
Next, the committee researched each of the 40 streets, determining which in a same-name set was the oldest and clarifying other important factors — "the history of the naming behind that street, the number of people who were living there," Lang said.
Committee members also received advice and accumulated documents from other cities in Canada that went through a similar process.
Then they did their analysis.
"For some streets it's not complicated — all you have to do is add a first name," she said.
A long and winding road
But in some cases, the committee had to come up with a name or person who would align with the history in that part of town.
"It was a long, long process," she said. "We did not take the issue lightly.
"The name of a place, the name of a street is important. Some identify with a name."
The group expects some people won't like the change, but it's something the city has wanted for a long time.
"It's human nature," she said. "When you talk about change it's never easy."
Residents won't have to pay any additional costs to change their addresses, and they'll have a year to make those necessary changes.
Although the new names have not yet been revealed, the group has made its recommendations and will be presenting them to town council next Tuesday. There will also be a public information session next Thursday night.
"It's important to address the situation once and for all," she said.