County Road L is really Janesville Drive
By Tracy Ouellette
Staff Writer
Town of Waterford residents who think they’re living on County Road L must begin using the Janesville Drive addresses that are listed in letters received from the United States Postal Service (USPS) last week.
The letters, dated Jan. 23, inform residents using County Road L as their street name that they, in fact, live on Janesville Drive and need to change their addresses to reflect the correct street name.
According to Town Clerk Tina Mayer, this all began with a phone call from Sherry Conroy, a USPS address management systems specialist.
“She had questions as to whether County Road L was Janesville Drive,” said Mayer. “I told her I would have to verify it because it can get complicated when roads cross county lines and major highways.”
Mayer said she called the Real Estate Description Office at the Racine County Courthouse and they told her it was Janesville Drive.
She then called Jeff Katz at the Waukesha County Department of Public Works and he told her it was Janesville Drive as well.
County Road L is known as Janesville Road from Hales Corners to Muskego. It then becomes Janesville Drive once it crosses into Racine County.
Mayer said she let Conroy know it was Janesville Drive and that was the last Mayer heard of it, thinking the matter was taken care of.
A week later, Mayer said she was shocked when a resident brought a copy of the USPS letter to her office, wanting to know what was going on and why this was necessary.
“I was completely blindsided,” she said. “No one notified me this letter was being sent out or that this was even a problem. If I had known, I would have called the people affected.”
Officials at USPS said they must use the street address a county or municipality has assigned to the homes and, in this case, it is Janesville Drive.
“We want to make sure our database is correct and we are using the correct addresses,” said Tim Ratliff, USPS spokesperson. “There were about 45 people (on Janesville Drive) who were not aware of their correct address.”
According to Mayer, the county, emergency services, police departments and township tax records all show the homes listed on County Road L as having Janesville Drive addresses.
Ratliff said he wants residents to know their mail delivery won’t be affected by the changeover.
“I just want to reassure everyone that their mail will not be delayed because of this,” he said.
Election IDs
With the upcoming elections, Mayer said a major concern residents have with having to change their addresses is whether or not they will be able to vote.
“This will not affect anyone’s ability to cast their vote,” Mayer said. “I’ve checked with the county and this is not going to be a problem for anyone. Whether your ID says County Road L or Janesville Drive, you will be able to vote.”
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