MULDROW, Okla. — People who live on East 1056 Rd. outside of Muldrow say they can't get the United States Postal Service (USPS) to move their mailboxes to a safer location.
"I have seen several close calls," resident James Barlett said.
Residents say in order to check their mail, they have to walk or drive over a mile and cross a busy highway. They say it's not only inconvenient but dangerous too.
James and Tammy Bartlett have lived on the privately maintained road for 10 years. In the last eight months, they've seen their mailboxes knocked down twice by speeding cars.
"The speed limit on this road is 45 mph," James said. "But as you can see by the cars that go by, there's hardly anyone that obeys the speed laws."
A group of 15 who live on this stretch submitted a petition to the USPS two years ago, asking for the mailboxes to be moved to a safer location off the highway and closer to some neighbors who can't easily get to them.
"There's several on this road that's elderly, that can't drive. One of them is blind, and they can't come check their mail," Tammy said. "They depend on somebody to bring their mail to them."
The first petition to move the mailboxes to East 1056 Rd. was declined because the road was in bad shape and needed repairs. But that didn't stop the group.
"I got together with one of our neighbors and we contacted Liberty Hills and came up with the idea that I would take off work for one week to do the work if he would pay for all the material and rent the equipment," James said.
After $20,000 in materials were provided by the street's owner and more than 30 hours of labor were contributed by James and his neighbors, the road was repaired.
That prompted a second petition signed by all 15 residents. They sent it to the post office in January with still no change.
"My wife has been in contact with the Postal Service several times in the last few weeks," James said. "Every time she talks to him, she gets the runaround."
He says several others have reached out too.
"They won't even answer the phone or or talk to them," James said.
USPS provided the following statement to 5NEWS:
"The Postal Service is a customer-oriented organization, and our team of dedicated employees strives every day to provide the best possible service to our customers.
In this case, mail receptacles previously used to serve a group of residences on 1056 Road were damaged due a vehicle incident. Local postal management has continued to work with residents to determine a suitable location for new mailboxes. This could not be finalized until needed repair work was performed on the selected road, which is now completed.
Local personnel will continue to assess the situation and work with residents to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. In the interim, residents may continue picking up their mail at the Muldrow Post Office, at 600 E Shawntel Smith Blvd., Muldrow, OK 74948, from 9:000 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday.
We apologize for any inconvenience that may have been experienced by our customers on E 1056 Road in Muldrow, OK and appreciate their patience."
As James hopes for quick action, Tammy says it's all about keeping their neighbors safe.
"We would be satisfied if we could get them up at least closer, so the people can get to their box safely and not worry about getting hit or causing an accident," she said. "But that is our goal, is to get our boxes at the end of our driveways."
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