Triangle Road residents back on the mail route

Residents’ persistence paid off and the U.S. Postal Service is once again delivering mail along Triangle 7 Road, overlooking Hayden Lake.

Resident Homer Davis is again receiving copies of “The Smithsonian” and “Budget Travel” along with bills and other mail at the end of his driveway. Stew Colpitts’ first piece of mail on Jan. 24 was addressed to “Occupant.”

“I think it was the pressure we put on them. We wrote a lot of letters,” said Colpitts of the Postal Service’s decision to restart delivery along his road.

Mail service to the 15 homes along the 1.5-mile Triangle 7 Road was halted about three months ago when the letter carrier complained that it was too dangerous.

The road is just 20 feet wide in spots, four feet shy of the 24-foot width recommended for Lakes Highway District Roads. The road is maintained by the district which applies gravel and grades it.

When the Postal Service stopped delivery to the homes along the road, agreeing to deliver mail only to boxes at the bottom of the hill where the road begins, neighbors fought. They wrote letters to the Postmaster, other USPS officials and Sen. Larry Craig.

The residents pointed out that several other nearby roads were receiving mail service even though they were narrower than Triangle 7 and were not maintained by the highway district.

Postmaster Barbara Puckett said the decision to bring delivery back to Triangle 7 Road was made because Lakes Highway District has done a good job of maintaining it over the past few months.

“We’re glad the problem has been resolved,” Puckett said.

Still, Davis isn’t completely satisfied.

“I’m still quite upset,” he said. “They reversed it three months too late. They should never have stopped the mail service in the first place.”