Island Trails adds more civic addresses to make paths easier to find

It's tricky to describe where exactly the Dromore South Trailhead is on P.E.I.

"We're east of Charlottetown, west of Souris. We're just off of 48 Road," said Mike Salter, the president of Island Trails.

"Of course 48 Road being one of the longest roads on the Island that doesn't help you much."

Fortunately,there is another way to figure out its location.

"21 High Bridge Rd. is the civic address for this area," he said. "If you put it on Google Maps it will take you right here."

Important for emergencies

Island Trails is calling for more civic addresses on P.E.I. trails. It recently acquired two,one for the Selkirk Forest Walking Trail and the other for the Forestview Woodland Trail in West Prince.

"Before then we were trying to explain to people how to find the trailheadit was between this road and that road and so there was a lot of questions going back and forth," said Salter.

"But now, if people want to find it, they just pop in the civic address."

According to the province though it's not just a matter of better directions to your leisurely hike having a civic address can also be vital in emergencies.

"We always say that 'we can't help you ifwe can't find you,'" said Tanya Mullally, the acting director for P.E.I. public safety.

"If you happen to be at a place where you don't have a civic address ... 911 would make a request,'Where are you located, can you tell me anything that you can see as an identifier to where you are so we can better locate you.'"

Factors to consider

While a civic address is legally required on all properties that have a structure, Mullally said areas like trails should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Mullally said about a decade ago the province worked on an initiative to mark reference points on the Confederation Trail in case of emergencies.

Still, there are important factors to consider.

"The purpose and the path and the length, the location, all those kinds of things," she said.

"I don't think that we want to have civic address signs everywhere because there is a responsibility for maintaining them ... to make sure that they're well displayed and not obscured by anything."

'Starting point to come find you'

Back in Dromore, it's biting cold outside and the temperature feellike -20. Not the place or situation you would want to find yourself stuck waiting during a crisis.

"As you could see just now by me trying to explain where we are, it's pretty difficult," said Salter.

"If you give them a civic address, the fire department or the ambulance or police, depending on what every emergency is, will be able to at least have a starting point to come find you."

The process to apply can be found on the provincial governmentwebsite. According to the page, if you have all the information collected the form takes just 10 minutes to fill out.

That being said Salter stressed even if the trail has a civic address it's also important for visitors to come prepared. That means bringing a compass, a charged phone, using apps like Adventure Smart and always telling friends or family when to expect you back.

"Take a picture of the civic address because just seeing it doesn't mean you're going to remember it," he said.

"So if you've got it on your phone, something happens where am I? You can just look it up on your phone and just makes it a lot easier."