USPS blames rough roads for limited mail delivery in Burke County neighborhood

HICKORY, N.C. — Concerns about road conditions outside of Hickory have resulted in some locals not receiving their mail.

A warning letter from the United States Postal Service noted the infrastructure issues along Spring Meadow Drive, but many residents said while the roads aren’t perfect, they aren’t bad enough to stop mail delivery.

For the fourth time in a week, Lynn Ruffner went to her mailbox on Thursday, hoping to pick up the mail. Instead, she found an empty mailbox waiting for her once again.

“I’m on disability,” Ruffner told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty. “I get a lot of things from Social Security that are very important.”

Kathy Duncan has lived in the area for 10 years and also received the letter from USPS saying the road conditions could affect the delivery of her mail.

“I was aggravated, I was angry,” Duncan said.

Now, she drives to the post office in Hickory to pick up her medicine and other items she used to get at her house. She said the smallest postal box will cost her more than $140 each year and she’ll have to make a lot of trips into town for pickups.

“This is the mail that I picked up at the post office yesterday and this is what it would have been since Monday,” Duncan said.

Channel 9 drove through the neighborhood and did see some potholes, but we were able to drive to every home.

The roads in the neighborhood are private and are not maintained by the state, but resident Melissa Bentley said her family pitches in whenever there’s a problem. She believes the postal service went too far by cutting off service.

“There are elderly people who live in here and they rely on the mail to get their medicine, and people are shopping for Christmas and I just think it’s ridiculous,” Bentley said.

A USPS official told Channel 9 some delivery has already resumed for customers that made road repairs. They’re asking other customers to perform fixes on privately owned roads, including filling potholes, so delivery can resume.

If that’s not possible, the postal service said it would discuss other options with residents.

Channel 9 received the following statement from the United States Postal Service:

“Mail delivery has been briefly curtailed to some customers where road maintenance is needed. Delivery already resumed to customers where road repairs have been made. We are asking customers to perform repairs on privately owned roads, including filling potholes, so delivery can resume. If road maintenance is not possible at this time, the Postal Service will discuss other options with impacted customers such as relocating mailboxes where the carrier can deliver mail safely.”

(WATCH BELOW: Your mail may take a little longer to arrive this fall)

Your mail may take a little longer to arrive this fall (NCD)

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