Mail Call Some North Market Residents Losing Home-Delivered Mail Service

Through rain, sleet, hail and snow, the U.S. Postal service delivers the mail.

But the long-time mail carriers’ creed says nothing about narrow sidewalks.

Now some folks will have to brave the same elements to get their mail.

Instead of having the mail delivered to their homes, residents living from the 6301 block to the 7229 block of North Market will have to pick up their mail at collection box units.

The Hillyard Post Office is installing the units because of heavy traffic on Market Street, said Postmaster Don Payton.

“It’s an extremely narrow sidewalk and not safe for mail carriers,” Payton said.

Recently a large industrial truck sideswiped a mail truck ripping off its side-view mirror. Mail carrier Charlie Cornell was delivering the mail at that time.

“It’s not a matter of if an accident will occur, it’s a matter of when,” said Cornell, whose been delivering the North Market route for 10 years.

But the elderly residents of the neighborhood say its not safe for them to be exposed to the heavy traffic either.

Herb Kurtzhall’s parents live along the route. He is angered by the post office’s decision.

“My parents are older, my father’s in the early stages of suffering from Alzheimer’s…. they don’t need to be walking to Market Street to pick up their mail,” Kurtzhall said.

Due to heavy traffic on Market Street, letter carriers have been driving on the sidewalk to deliver the mail, which is illegal, Payton said.

“In the winter it is impossible to walk the sidewalk because of the snow and, also, there are many speeding vehicles going by that are splashing letter carriers and the mail with slush and rocks,” Payton said.

Neighbors said they plan to meet soon and discuss whether or not they want to try and block the change.

Between the end of March and mid-April, a collection box will be placed on the south side of the intersection of Houston at Market for residents living between 6301 and 6415 N. Market.

One will be on the north side of Houston at Market, and one at the south side of Wilding and Market for residents living between 6507 and 7217 N. Market.

Another will be at the north side of Wilding at Market and on the south side of Houghton at Market for residents between 7219 and 7229 N. Market.

Most new housing developments in the Spokane area have their mail delivered to collection boxes, Payton said. He said they are safer, faster and less prone to vandalism and theft.

Cornell said mail security is just as big an issue as safety.

“I don’t know of one area around here that hasn’t been affected by mail tampering and fraud,” Cornell said. “The collection box units go a along way to eliminating that.”

Until the collection units are installed, Cornell and other carriers now use the entire right-hand lane of Market as they travel south to deliver the mail.

The area has become more heavily traveled in recent years. North Market sees a lot of truck traffic coming in and out of Mead.

Some truck drivers coming into Spokane from Highway 2 will exit the highway at the Wallace Airport north of Mead, get on Market Street and come into town, Cornell said.

Residents along Market don’t want to be exposed to that traffic.

“Nobody drives the speed limit along here,” said 71-year-old Virginia Kurtzhall. “They ought to change the name of the street to Market Highway.

“You can’t get in your car and drive to pick up the mail because there’s no place to park. I think it’s more of a hazard for all of us to walk the street than for one mail man to do it.”

Kurtzhall needs a respirator to go outside. She only goes out on clear days.

Laci Serben said she thinks the collection box units will be a minor inconvenience.

“But that’s only because I’m younger than a lot of the people who live over here,” she said. “A lot of the older people can’t go out.

Velma Thomas is one of those residents.

Thomas, 71, has lived in her house for 28 years. She said the new plan would make it difficult for her to get her mail. She’s suffered from occasional paralysis in her legs for the last 15 years.

“I don’t go outside during the winter months,” Thomas said. “Heck, I can’t even go down the stairs in my house.

“It’s about a half-block walk for me, but these are long blocks out here,” she said. “The whole situation makes things real miserable for a lot of us.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo Map: Changes in Hillyard mail delivery