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Safer for carriers, but what about residents? photo by Bob Pennell Postal carrier Erik Swensen must find his own way to deliver mail on the sidewalk-free 900 block of Medford's Stewart Avenue. The postal service is suggesting cluster mailboxes at certain intersections in concern for carriers' safety. Idea to group mailboxes worries some neighbors By Peter Wong of the Mail Tribune For Helen Schmider and Mae Hall, the prospect of walking a block down Stewart Avenue in Medford to get their mail each day is a block too far. "They said it would be too dangerous for mail carriers -- but what about poor old me, who is a senior citizen?" said Schmider, who is in her mid-70s. "I guess many of my neighbors are for it, but it is dangerous. I fell twice last year just a little way from my house." Hall lives next door at Stewart Avenue and Jasper Street. "I do not want to walk to Alta (Street) to get my mail -- and I am young," said Hall, who's about a decade younger than Schmider. But for Medford Postmaster Jim Foucault, a proposal for cluster mailboxes at the intersections of Stewart Avenue and selected side streets may satisfy concerns of Stewart Avenue residents and carriers. Traffic has increased after the widening of Stewart Avenue a few years ago. Carriers park on side streets and deliver mail on foot to houses fronting on Stewart Avenue, but much of the avenue's north side lacks sidewalks. "Carriers have raised concerns about their personal safety, having to walk through that area as traffic increases at different times of the day," Foucault said. "Customers would have to come to a box to get their mail, but they would gain security from a locked receptacle. So it is an idea we brainstormed." Foucault said he sent a letter to residents last month asking what they think and inviting replies. Many have done so, but he said no decision has been made yet. "We are about to sit down, review all the responses, and go from there," he said. "It may be that one block all will agree they do not mind doing it -- and the next one won't. We are trying to see if this option is something people are receptive to. We are not going to try to force it down anyone's throat." Possible sites for these boxes are the intersections of Stewart Avenue and Alta Street, Park Avenue and Hamilton Street. Foucault said he plans another letter to residents soon, once the responses are compiled. What may have given the proposal more impetus was an accident last summer. A Postal Service truck was rear-ended as a carrier delivered a parcel in the 300 block of Stewart Avenue, where there are 13 homes between Alta and Jasper streets. The carrier was not injured, Foucault said, "but it was another indication of the danger of a busy street." Though locked mailboxes can be used anywhere for the safety of carriers or the security of customers, Foucault said they are most common in new subdivisions where the U.S. Postal Service is establishing delivery routes for the first time. He said even if residents want them, the Postal Service has to budget for the boxes, which cost about $1,000 each. Schmider and Hall said such boxes might invite vandalism, but Foucault said so do rural-style individual boxes next to the street. "It might be a good thing for us because we need the exercise," Hall said jokingly. "Maybe for you," Schmider replied. "But a lot of us cannot do that." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA