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Blue Springs, MO —
Blue Springs Mayor Carson Ross has formally appealed to the U.S. Postal Service, asking that the downtown post office not be closed.
“We strongly believe this decision is not in the best interest of our Community ...” the mayor wrote in a letter sent to the Postal Service last week.
In early February, the Postal Service had formally notified the city of its plans to close what it calls its retail store at 200 N.W. 11th St., just off Main Street, and consolidate operations at the post office at 500 S.W. South Ave., which is away from downtown and on the other side of Missouri 7, just north of Hy-Vee.
The Postal Service points out that it’s under intense pressure to save money. It says the South Avenue site is about twice the size of the downtwon site and says with less and less mail it just doesn’t need the space.
But civic leaders have been working to keep the downtown location open, and the mayor’s letter suggests consolidating operations there instead.
Mayor Ross cites several reasons, chiefly that a concentration of government services – with good access, walkable for many – is considered crucial to redeveloping a downtown area. Closing the 11th Street facility “will present a major stumbling block to the revitalization of Downtown Blue Springs,” Ross wrote, adding that such developments as a commuter rail stop downtown also are in the works.
Ross writes that the city has invested more than $500,000 to make downtown more safe and walkable and that closing the 11th Street facility would disproportionately hurt the poor and elderly, who are more concentrated near downtown.
The city also argues that the Postal Service won’t save money. Traffic counts at the 11th Street facility suggest “that South Avenue will require several upgrades to handle the increased traffic volume safely and efficiently.”
The Postal Service acknowledged its plans last summer and made that formal last month. There is no word on when the downtown post office would close.
Blue Springs Mayor Carson Ross has formally appealed to the U.S. Postal Service, asking that the downtown post office not be closed.
“We strongly believe this decision is not in the best interest of our Community ...” the mayor wrote in a letter sent to the Postal Service last week.
In early February, the Postal Service had formally notified the city of its plans to close what it calls its retail store at 200 N.W. 11th St., just off Main Street, and consolidate operations at the post office at 500 S.W. South Ave., which is away from downtown and on the other side of Missouri 7, just north of Hy-Vee.
The Postal Service points out that it’s under intense pressure to save money. It says the South Avenue site is about twice the size of the downtwon site and says with less and less mail it just doesn’t need the space.
But civic leaders have been working to keep the downtown location open, and the mayor’s letter suggests consolidating operations there instead.
Mayor Ross cites several reasons, chiefly that a concentration of government services – with good access, walkable for many – is considered crucial to redeveloping a downtown area. Closing the 11th Street facility “will present a major stumbling block to the revitalization of Downtown Blue Springs,” Ross wrote, adding that such developments as a commuter rail stop downtown also are in the works.
Ross writes that the city has invested more than $500,000 to make downtown more safe and walkable and that closing the 11th Street facility would disproportionately hurt the poor and elderly, who are more concentrated near downtown.
The city also argues that the Postal Service won’t save money. Traffic counts at the 11th Street facility suggest “that South Avenue will require several upgrades to handle the increased traffic volume safely and efficiently.”
The Postal Service acknowledged its plans last summer and made that formal last month. There is no word on when the downtown post office would close.
