Somerville crowdsources new name for street

The City of Somerville appealed to its residents earlier this month to help rename what is currently known as "Great River Road" in the Assembly Square neighborhood. The goal is to help alleviate confusion between this road and another "Great River Road" a few blocks away.

“Suggestions [to rename the road] actually came from the fire department. One of the concerns was that having two separate roads sharing a name may cause confusion in case of emergency,” Community Engagement Specialist Meghann Ackerman said.

According to Ackerman, the City accepted suggestions for names between Oct. 8 and Oct. 22. Somerville residents from all walks of life, including Tufts students, were encouraged to embrace their creative side and their Somerville spirit in coming up with names that embody the best of what the area has to offer.

“It is just sort of a fun thing to open it up [to the public]…[submissions contain] so much creativity, and we are getting suggestions we would not have come up with. It was a fun way to engage with the community and get people involved with the city a little bit,” Ackerman said.

She explained that within the next few days, an internal committee comprised of members of the city government plans to review submissions and narrow down the options to between five and 10 names. After a list of potential names is decided on, the front-runners will be posted on the City of Somerville website for the community to vote on.

The two names that garner the greatest number of votes will be forwarded on to Mayor Joseph Curtatone, who will ultimately decide upon the winning submission. The whole process is projected to end by mid to late November.

For Ackerman and the internal committee, a primary goal was to select a strong name that pays proper homage to the city’s rich history and points in the direction of its future.

“The submission had to be a unique name distinct from other streets in Somerville ... again to avoid confusion in an emergency situation," she said. "We are definitely interested in ideas if they have some sort of Somerville connection, although they did not necessarily have to. But we want names that speak to the city’s future."

According to the Somerville website, the Assembly Square neighborhood, which is around four miles outside of downtown Boston, was home to a Ford Motor assembly plant in the early 1900s and played an important role in fueling the local economy during World War II. Now, the area is predominately home to businesses and outlet shopping. Despite all the change that has occurred in the area over the past century, Ackerman remains confident that the search will yield a dynamic name to reflect the pulse of the evolving city.

“It was really great to get so many responses from folks," she said. "A lot of people obviously put a lot of thought and time and effort into their submissions."