[StBernard] Mail upgrades coming to Bywater, eastern New Orleans, St. Bernard

[Westley Annis]

Mail upgrades coming to Bywater, eastern New Orleans, St. Bernard

By Michelle Hunter 
Staff writer 

A few changes are coming for mail customers in Downtown and eastern New
Orleans and in St. Bernard Parish.

After today, customers in ZIP codes 70117, 70126, 70127, 70128 and 70129 no
longer must travel to the U.S. Postal Service's trailer city next door to
the New Orleans Arena to pick up mail, New Orleans Postmaster Alan Cousin
said. By Wednesday, these residents may collect mail at their local post
offices: Bywater, Chef Menteur and Lake Forest. 

Postal officials also are preparing to restore limited street delivery in
the Meraux, St. Bernard and Violet communities, Postal Service spokesman
David Lewin said. Residents living in those communities are being asked to
fix up their curbside mailboxes. 


Both moves are part of the agency's continuing effort to mend local mail
service, almost obliterated after Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29. 

Since October, thousands of New Orleanians without a functioning
neighborhood post office have picked up mail at the Postal Service's
temporary trailer city located between the arena and the New Orleans
Shopping Centre parking garage. But Saturday will be the last day to pick up
mail there, Cousin said. Afterward, the trailers will be moved to the
Bywater, Chef Menteur and Lake Forest stations, he said. 

Katrina permanently shuttered another eastern New Orleans post office, the
Michoud station at 13085 Chef Menteur Highway. Customers with a 70129 zip
may pick up mail at the Lake Forest Station.

Customers may begin over-the-counter pick-up at the Bywater, Chef and Lake
Forest stations on Wednesday. Once more residents return to these areas,
Cousin said, limited street delivery will begin. 

That's about to start in parts of St. Bernard Parish. 

Some 1,500 residents pick up mail at the Chalmette post office, and letter
carriers are delivering to about 54 businesses in Chalmette and Arabi but
not to residences, Lewin said. 

To kick off home delivery, residents who've returned to Meraux, St. Bernard
and Violet should repair or replace their curbside mailboxes, Lewin said.
That includes replacing lost hinges and repainting rusty or peeling boxes,
Lewin said. He also advised making sure the house numbers are visible. If
buying a new mailbox, Lewin said, ensure it is marked "approved by the
postmaster general." 

Once the curbside box is ready, the resident should notify the local
postmaster, Lewin said. 

The Postal Service has nixed deliveries to addresses with mailboxes attached
to the building because of safety concerns about debris, structural
integrity and mold, Lewin said. 

And because most homes in Chalmette and Arabi didn't have curbside delivery
and fewer customers have returned in those areas, Lewin said, residents
there will have a wait a longer for street delivery.

(Michelle Hunter may be reached at mhunter at timespicayune.com or (504)
883-7054.)