Village of Godfrey Board of Trustees: Public Safety, Finance, Board Meetings, June 6, 2023
GODFREY - New signage has been approved for an access road to Godfrey Road which is technically also known as Godfrey Road. After the Public Safety Committee considered re-naming the road, input from local residents and a business owner led to a debate around the name change and ultimately resulted in the road keeping its name, but gaining signage that had been missing.
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Roland Hopgood, an owner of Godfrey Storage, said the road’s current name confuses customers who are unable to find his business. He suggested it be renamed Storage Lane.
“The fact is, we run a business,” he said. “[Customers] have no idea where they’re going. We try to explain it to them, they go right on by on 67. They’re calling us going, ‘I don’t see where you’re at, where are you at? What street are you on?’ They don’t know.”
Two residents who also live on Godfrey Road near the storage facility said they’d prefer the road’s name stay the same for several reasons.
“We’ve been there 30 years and it’s always been Godfrey Road,” one resident said. “It’s going to create undue hardship to change everything - our social security, our address, everything that we’ve done.”
The residents also said services like Google Maps work for their address and that police, medical services, Amazon, and more have been able to find their residence without issue - all of which would be interrupted if the road’s name were to change.
However, they pointed out there’s currently no sign indicating the roads to the right/left once Godfrey Road “ends” are also Godfrey Road - if drivers continue straight, the road becomes US 67 / Interstate 255. The discussion then shifted from renaming the road to installing more signage.
The residents and several committee members agreed that installing a Godfrey Road sign for both sides of the access road should solve the problem. Village Engineer Richard Beran said he would reach out to IDOT to find out what the signage will cost and who will be responsible for funding and installing it.
Pending the discussion with IDOT, an amended motion for the new signage will be placed on the next Public Safety Committee meeting agenda to be considered and possibly approved.
A full recording of the June 6 meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
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