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The name Red Barn Road wasn’t popular with residents along the former County Road 1740. On Tuesday, the Tupelo City Council responded by renaming the road Heardtown Road, after reassurances it wouldn’t cause confusion with nearby Herdtown Lane for emergency responders. (C. Todd Sherman)
On Tuesday, the Tupelo City Council approved a second round of name changes for the roads previously known as Lee County Road 37, which will become Kenny Vaughn Road, and County Road 1740, which will become Heardtown Road.
Generally, roads in the unincorporated areas of Lee County are numbered, and city streets are named. When the 16-square-mile annexation was final this fall, the city began a process with E-911 and the U.S. Post Office to identify roads that needed names.
County Road 1740 was initially changed to Red Barn Road because of concerns about confusion with Herdtown Lane, which comes off the road to the north, said City Planner Pat Falkner. On Tuesday, the council approved the historic name advocated by residents – Heardtown Road – after reassurance from 911 officials that confusion was unlikely because the address ranges are different.
The road that used to be County Road 37 was originally renamed Vaughn Road. During a review of the proposed names by the U.S. Post Office, officials realized a Vaughn Road in eastern Pontotoc County could cause confusion for emergency responders, Falkner told the Tupelo City Council in proposing the change to Kenny Vaughn Road.
After the review with the U.S. Post Office is complete, notification will go out to those with new addresses.
michaela.morris@journalinc.com