Ketchum resists new road names

KETCHUM, Idaho – A proposal to rename four streets in Ketchum appears to have hit a roadblock with objections from residents who say the changes are needless and will cause extra work with voter rolls, maps, driver’s licenses, deeds, property titles and emergency responders’ computer systems.

The Downtown Improvement Task Force was appointed to rename some streets to make the city easier for visitors to navigate. After two months, the task force recommended renaming four streets and creating four districts, or quarters.

Besides resistance to changing street names, some residents at a City Council meeting this week objected to the naming of districts as not being historically accurate.

The suggested districts are the Trail Creek District, Heritage Park District, Hemingway District and Harriman District.

Ernest Hemingway lived in the area off and on from 1939 to 1961, when he committed suicide. W. Averell Harriman founded Sun Valley resort.

“I’m not sure how much Harriman really had to do with Ketchum,” said Anne Zauner, a member of the Ketchum-Sun Valley Historical Society. “Sun Valley, sure.”

The City Council agreed to schedule more meetings so more residents and business owners could make comments about the proposed changes.