City Of Reykjavík Instructed To Rename Streets

Örnefnanefnd (the Committee for Toponyms) has instructed the City of Reykjavík to rename the streets Bjargargata and Bjarkargata, RÚV reports. The committee reasoned that the street names are too similar and could cause confusion.

Örnefnanefnd is an administrative committee which operates within the culture ministry on the basis of Icelandic toponym law.

The city has eight weeks to conform to the committee’s decision. If it does not, the committee will administer a new name.

On its own accord, the committee recently discovered the more recent name Bjargargata, located in Reykjavík’s Vatnsmýri area, whereas Bjarkargata already exists. Both streets are in the same neighbourhood, with less than one kilometre in between them. Notwithstanding their proximity to each other, the committee claims Bjargargata to not be permitted anywhere in Reykjavík.

The committee reasoned that toponyms are a crucial navigation factor. For security reasons, it is important to avoid similarly sounding place names to ensure optimal emergency responses.