EXCLUSIVE: Confusion Over Street Names in Lakewood Causes 15-Minute Delay In Emergency Response

TLS has reported several incidents in the past in which confusion over street names in Lakewood delayed a response by emergency medical personnel.

A recent frightening incident yet again underscores the need for action to be taken by the Township to ensure that nobody loses their life over an issue which can be fixed.

TLS has learned that emergency services were recently dispatched to Argyle Avenue in Lakewood, but upon arrival, first responders were apparently unable to locate the caller, who required immediate attention. The dispatch center then confirmed that the emergency was not located on Argyle Avenue, but rather on Argyll Circle, also in Lakewood.

The lack of clarity over the correct street caused services to be delayed by more than fifteen minutes, minutes that could have potentially cost a patient his or her life.

The incident has emergency personnel sounding the alarm.

“It is unfathomable that the township continues to have streets that are named so similarly to each other,” one first responder told TLS. “The township must enact changes to make sure that such an occurrence never happens again. We shouldn’t be waiting for a tragedy to happen to do something about it.”

Speaking to TLS, Mayor Ray Coles said that confusion over street names is a legitimate concern that should be addressed immediately.

“I know that if I have a medical emergency, I would want emergency responders there as quickly as possible, without being confused over where to go,” said Mayor Coles. The Mayor said he would be discussing options with other officials on how to solve the problem.

Argyle Ave. and Argyll Place are not the only streets in Lakewood that sound similar to one another. Others include Manetta Ave/Manetta Place, Cedar Street/Cedar Court, and Eden Court/Eden Lane.

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34 COMMENTS

  1. Treetop & Tree side
    Caranetta dr &
    East & West Caranetta cr
    Cedar row, cedar st, cedar ct.
    Read st & Read place
    Read place has two locations! 1 off of Albert & 1 in Yesodei ct (technically they would connect if not for a huge piece of undeveloped [for now]
    land).
    I have a list of suggestions for unused street names if the builders are short on creativity

  2. And Forest Ave/ Forest Drive! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had delivery drivers call me because they can’t find my house- because when they hear Forest they assume Avenue. We have trained our kids to say ‘Drive, not Avenue’ if they should ever chas v’shalom need to call hatzalah, but I still worry about it.

  3. With all due respect to the Mayor, ttalking to other officials to see what can be done is only part of the solution. There is someone, or some people, or some board that is responsible to approve every proposed name of every new street. The person (or persons) has not been doing their job in responsible manner and there should be some accountability. 15 minutes can easily be the difference between life and death.

    Just a side note, I recently waited along with a neighbor who found someone collapsed on his front lawn complaining of chest pains, for Lakewood First Aid to arrive. Wait time was in the 15 minute ballpark and the address was totally clear….

  4. Park Ave and Park Place, Medina Rd and Medina Ct, we can go on and on about this! I’m glad i no longer drive a bus. I would be lost most of the time.
    🙂

  5. The worst is 7th st they recently changed it to 7th bet. Princeton and park from east 7th so now 7th street has the some of the same numbers between park and Princeton and bet Princeton and monmouth.

  6. @lkwdguy stop ripping on the people tht save lives,I’m pretty sure if u got in an accident and needed extrication, or medical emergency u would want them to help u out, so If u dont have a thnk u for the volunteers tht give so much then keep ur mouth shut

  7. @lkwdguy stop ripping on the people tht save lives,I’m pretty sure if u got in an accident and needed extrication, or medical emergency u would want them to help u out, so If u dont have a thnk u for the volunteers tht give so much then keep ur mouth shut

  8. Salem St. has recently been extended in a random place off Vine Ave.
    The probability of them ever connecting is extremely slim and work require a bridge.

    It could take over 10 minutes to get from one Salem St. to the new one.

  9. If they’re short on new names just talk to folks that built Westgate, they should be able to give a couple of easy spelling and pleasant sounding names…

  10. 13 th STREET between Monmouth and Princeton has many of the same address #’s as 13 th STREET between Princeton and Shafto. Deliveries ALWAYS GET MIXED UP. The mail system renamed it EAST 13 between princeton and shafto BUT the TOWNSHIP wont chage it and calls them BOTH 13th STREET- so WAZE is a disaster!!! Imagine waking up to a delivery of pallets of bricks or construction materials in your driveway!!!

  11. this is common in all towns and cities

    east 21st west 21st

    queens have avenues streets terraces etc with all similar numbers

    many towns have south north etc.

    pay attention to all there details.

    use navigation.

    a dispatcher has a serious job

  12. This is a big problem but the solution is complicated. My dauggtervworks for a developer. He asked her to pick street names. Shockingly, every color, animal, fish and flower are taken. And, really, do you wanna live on Zebra Street ?
    Its not so simple. If you have ideas for normal street names, lets hear them. They may use them.

    • the lakewood papers can have a contest for street names.
      50 streets can be called for the 50 states of the US.
      then you can have streets named after cities in NJ
      names for the different government entities, such as senate , house judiciary, etc.
      names of the presidents of the US
      even first names of girls, first names of boys.
      etc.

  13. As someone who works in development around the state. In most town the street names are either dictated by the town or if suggested by the developer they need written approval by the Police Department before being accepted.

  14. @not so easy
    I have been saying for a very long time now, I wish developers would name the street after fallen government officials police, fire, and ambulance service members. It will show great appreciation for our fallen heroes

  15. Two apartment buildings on east seventh street between princeton and Park Avenues are addressed as princeton. The buildings state princeton on them to help first responders but anyone living on the block now is mistaken as princeton. Its a big mess. The least the yeshiva apartment bldg should do is put it in parenthesis.

Comments are closed.