© 2024 WMUK
Public radio from Western Michigan University 102.1 NPR News | 89.9 Classical WMUK
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A controversial USPS consolidation plan takes effect June 1 in Kalamazoo County

WMUK | By Michael Symonds
Published May 29, 2024 at 6:05 PM EDT
The orange brick U.S. Post Office sits next to a turquoise home in Schoolcraft. Its front lawn is littered with orange and yellow leaves, denoting the fall season. A myriad of deep green fluffy bushes also engulf the lawn. Some yellow and green leaves still cling to a few trees surrounding the building, but the rest are completely bare, their dark brown limbs now swaying nakedly in the wind. A single dark blue mail box sits on the light gray sidewalk in front of the post office, the USPS logo on every side of the drop-off box. "U.S. Post Office, Schoolcraft MI 49087" is displayed in a steely grey font on the front facing side of the office, with this same steely grey color outlining much of the rest of the building.
Michael Symonds
/
WMUK
Kalamazoo County is one of a handful of places across the country that will see this change.

Three Kalamazoo-area post offices will lose their delivery units starting next month.

The U.S. Postal Service has confirmed that starting in June, carriers will pick up mail from a facility in Oshtemo Township rather than the post offices in Portage, Schoolcraft, and on Drake Road in Kalamazoo.

This comes as part of the Postal Service’s “Delivering for America” plan to improve its finances.

Kevin Trayer with the National Association of Postal Supervisors is critical of the plan. He said it will lengthen delivery routes and increase delivery times.

USPS spokesperson Mark Inglett says the plan will make mail delivery faster and more reliable.

Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
WMUK News
Michael Symonds
Report for America national service program corps member Michael Symonds joined WMUK’s staff in 2023. He covers the “rural meets metro” beat, reporting stories that link seemingly disparate parts of Southwest Michigan.
See stories by Michael Symonds