Road Names

To keep 9-1-1 addresses as unique as possible within Ellis County, new road names should be unique countywide.  

The table below shows the 3 parts of a road name:  

  • Part 1 is only required for use in established addressing grids 
  • Part 2 is required and must be unique (changing the suffix/Part 3 of a road name already in use does not make a road name unique)
  • Part 3 is required (see UPSP guidelines below) 

RoadNameGraphic

Click the link below to download a regularly updated list of the known road names in use or in a known planned project:

General guidelines for new road names

  • Duplicate road names (county-wide) will not be allowed
    1. Prefixes/pre-directionals (N, S, E, W) and suffixes (Rd, St, Dr, Ct, etc) /post-directionals (N, S, E, W) do not make a road name unique.
    2. Exception: a single short street off a longer street can have the same name as the street and have a suffix of Court
  • Road names should not sound or look similar to an existing road name
  • Road names shall not contain any punctuation or special characters.
    1. Only alphabetical symbols A to Z and blank spaces are allowed
    2. Periods, commas, hyphens, apostrophes, or dashes are not allowed (examples O’Reilly, Bob-A-Link, J. F. Kennedy)
  • Road names should be easy to pronounce and spell, even for a child
  • Road names must include a suffix (Part 3 in table above) and adhere to
    1. USPS Publication 28
    2. USPS Street Suffix examples
  • Avoid using numbers as part of the road name.  
    1. Exceptions are state and federal named roads such as FM 664, State Highway 360, US Highway 77, Interstate 35 E
    2. The reason for this recommendation is some Computer Aided Dispatch Systems and 9-1-1 mapping systems do not properly handle these types of road names
  • Avoid the use of suffixes, directional suffixes, prefixes, and directional prefixes as road names 
    1. e.g. North Fwy, South Ave, West North St, Court St, North Loop, Avenue of Pines
  • Single letter road names are not allowed
    1. e.g. A Avenue, Z Lane
  • Road names are no longer accepted if part or all of the road name includes "Ranch Road" as it causes confusion with a TxDOT road classification
  • Avoid the use of non-standard road name suffixes, which may be confused with subdivisions of commercial developments
    1. e.g. Union Plaza, Police Square, Terrytown Place
  • Roads cannot be given names that could be considered slang, insulting, controversial, offensive, distasteful, or unpleasant
  • Road names that could lead to a high rate of vandalism or theft based on road name are not allowed
  • Avoid family names or individuals’ names for any living person or living politician.  Historical and pioneering names may be used if they meet the other recommendations in this book and other addressing guidelines
  • Road names must be completely spelled out.  Do not abbreviate any part of the road name.  Road names containing initials and/or abbreviations are not allowed.
    • This rule applies to roads similar to the following
      • John F Kennedy not JFK
      • Martin Luther King not MLK
      • Saint John not St John
      • Convention Center not CC
    • Note that this only applies to the road name. The directional, the suffix, and the post directional may be abbreviated
      • N Martin Luther King Blvd or W John F Kennedy Dr are acceptable
  • Do not use Cross Street as addresses
    1. e.g. Main and Second, Lakes at Maple, or 5th and Broadway
  • It is strongly recommended that any road serving more than two structures shall be named and numbered. This applies to both public and private roads, fire lanes, alleys, and service roads. 
  • Road name length / complete address length should be considered.   The following are allowed character lengths for different agencies for the address line.  I would use the shortest of 30 characters as the maximum for the address line.  That means the address number, road name, suffix and spaces would need to be no longer than 30 characters to fit.  This would help keep an address simple and easy to communicate to 911 and will make the address less problematic for those using them in the future.
    • UPS: 30 characters
    • Fedex: 35 characters
    • USPS: 46 characters

Road Name Ideas

  • Historical significance that promote civic pride
  • Respect pioneering families to the area
  • Geographic, biological, or geologic features of the area like plants, wildlife, trees and unique features
  • Literary, artistic, or cultural references