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USPS asking homeowners to move mailboxes across highway; residents fear it's too dangerous

2 years 9 months 2 days ago Monday, March 28 2022 Mar 28, 2022 March 28, 2022 7:16 PM March 28, 2022 in News
Source: WBRZ

WALKER - The United States Postal Service is working to make deliveries more efficient, but there's resistance from some people who are used to having their mail delivered in the box in front of their home.

Virginia Carson says what the USPS wants her to do is too dangerous and contacted 2 On Your Side for help.

Carson lives in a curve on Springfield Road in Walker, La. It's a busy 55 mph highway, but at times, cars and large trucks are driving through at higher speeds.

This is why Carson says it's crazy that the USPS wants her and other homes around her to move their mailboxes to the other side of the street. It would require Carson to walk across the highway to get the mail and stand in the street since there's a steep drop-off on the other side.

"I'm not walking across that highway," she said.

For years, Carson says the mail has been delivered on both sides of the street. Now, the post office wants everyone to move their boxes to one side of the road to make it more efficient for their delivery drivers.

The Postmaster sent letters that say with the addition of nearly 800 new Walker addresses in the last couple of years, adjustments are needed to make mail delivery more efficient. The letter says people have until April 1 to move their mailboxes to the other side of the street. Carson says there's another solution.

"Hire another mail carrier and leave our mailboxes where they are."

The USPS says pieces of mail that don't fit in her mailbox would still be dropped off at her front door.

Carson says she lives on a dangerous curve, and it was just a few days ago that an accident happened. She says she has seen at least eight wrecks in the 15 years she's lived there. Carson doesn't want to be involved in number nine.

"I don't know what's coming. I can't see what's coming there," she said.

If she doesn't move her mailbox in the next few days, her mail will be held at the post office for some time. The USPS says it's working to accommodate growth, and when warranted, it will evaluate delivery routes and implement adjustments. In this case, the postal service says it has worked with residents on Springfield Road and continues to do so.

The USPS says if Carson doesn't wish to move her mailbox, she can get a P.O. Box or move her mailbox to a side street. Carson says she's worried if she moves her mailbox to a side street, emergency vehicles will have trouble finding her.

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