ANDOVER — Spring will be in the air shortly! Daffodils and tulips will be poking out around mailboxes and 911 reflective address signs.
We are thankful that 341 address signs have been purchased and put up around Andover, 25 in surrounding communities. They are so helpful for our emergency responders to see on the side of the road, when coming to your emergency.
Did you know that Andover Emergency Services Auxiliary makes the red signs? Our ladies order the blank red sign and we put on the white reflective numbers per your request.
Our signs come from a small family business in Ohio. They ship us the red sign, the numbers, the prepackaged brackets, and along to Andover they come. We make approximately 30 signs a month during our busy times and deliver them right to your Andover door.
Over the past year, we have had lots of thoughts as to why we feel these are so important. Your mailbox is not just for mail. It serves as a marker for your location.
Most mailboxes have a number on them, on the door of the box. Those littles numbers are sometimes only one-inch tall and, if we are lucky, someone might have a three-inch number. However, did you notice that residents put them on the door of the mailbox for the mail person, not the side?
If you put the numbers on the side of the mailbox, oncoming traffic could see your address number. If you had reflective numbers, three inches tall and placed on the side, emergency responders could find you quicker! OR you can get a 911 reflective address sign and we all can find you, even Amazon!
Here are some key points to think about when placing your address sign. Place your sign perpendicular to the road; headlights reflect off the signs making them visible. Place your sign high enough to avoid getting distorted and hit by the plow or snow.
Place the address sign next to the driveway where you would want emergency responders to turn into. Place the sign on your side of the road even if there isn’t a mailbox. Solar lights interfere with reflective numbers, making it harder to see the sign.
The brackets you can purchase from us are two L-shaped brackets and include four nuts and bolts. You may need your own screws.
Last, GPS does not always get emergency responders where they need to be. We can’t express how important these signs are. We don’t want to miss your home.
We want to get to you as fast as we can. Five minutes does make a difference in an emergency.
We will be at AE/MS on Town Meeting Day if you want to order your 911 reflective address sign. Here is a link for the web to print a form: tinyurl.com/Andover-Emergency-Services, or email us at AndoverESA@nullgmail.com.