Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Too Dangerous For Mail??

A little while ago, we received notice from Canada Post that our mail box was too dangerous for the mail carrier to deliver our mail.  This wasn't a surprise, we've heard rumours for a while that we were losing our box delivery (can't call it house delivery because ours has never been delivered to our house, just out at the highway).  
We were very surprised when we saw the location (south end of Poff Rd at Hwy 17) that was chosen for our community mail box (CMB).  I thought the point of the CMB was to make mail carriers safer?  This new location requires mail carriers to make a left hand turn across the busy Trans Canada Highway (Hwy 17)!

The south side of Poff Rd is very narrow and has a steep ditch.  Which is evident from the fact that the installers had to actually build some land for installing the CMB.

mail (1000x750)

This CMB location is also dangerous for all the Canada Post customers who come to pick put their mail.  As I mentioned, this south side of the intersection is rather narrow and has steep ditches.  This means there is no where for customers to pull their cars/trucks off the road.  I have to park (and block the road).  This end of Poff Road is rather busy and is often a detour route for when the highway is closed for accidents.  Also, I'm not sure where all the snow is going to go this winter.  It's usually piled pretty high on both sides of the road.  You can guarantee I will be phoning the Post Office a lot this winter to come dig out my mail box.  I will not be climbing over mounds of snow to get my mail.

mail 8 (1000x750)
How is this safe?  Especially since Ella is usually sitting in the truck too.  I don't know how any one could have come out and 'scouted' the location for the CMB.  This location must have been chosen sitting in an office in Ottawa.  If someone had come out and checked the location they would have seen that the CMB should be located on the north side of this intersection.

mail 1 (1000x750)

The north side of Poff Road is a dead-end and has only 1 house, so it has very little traffic -ever.  This side is even better for the mail carriers.  Not only is a right-hand turn but there is a turn lane to keep the mail carriers even safer.  This side actually has a bit of a shoulder before the more gently sloping ditch.

mail 2 (1000x750)

And look, even our big truck doesn't block up too much of the road.  The other problem with the south side of the intersection is there is no room to turn around.  We will either have to drive down to the end of the road (Poff and the even busier Snake River Line where people speed terribly) and do a U-turn in the middle of the intersection (doesn't sound safe or legal).  Or the other option is trespassing on our neighbour's property to turn in his driveway or front yard.  They have very young grandchildren, not to mention dogs, and are very concerned for their safety.  The north side of the intersection has lots of room to do a 3-point turn and no traffic to worry about.
Shortly after the CMB was installed I contacted Canada Post on Facebook (the only contact I could find) with my concerns.  This is the response I received:

"Thank you for sharing your concerns about the community mailbox location in your area. There are a lot of planning when it comes to set up community mailbox.
Canada Post is committed to maintaining open communication with developers throughout the Community Mail Box (CMB) installation process. Please note that the Canada Post Delivery Planner contacted the developer to discuss the CMB requirements (location, space required, total number of lots and expected completion date of the development)"

Basically, on paper, this location fit their criteria and I have no idea what I'm talking about.  

It's a shame that it's going to take someone being killed to make Canada Post move this box somewhere safe.  I just pray it isn't someone I love that has to die.

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