North Winnipeg residents learning which properties will be near new community mailboxes

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/06/2014 (4456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new list of over 400 proposed locations for Canada Post’s community mailboxes is stirring controversy among residents in Winnipeg’s Maples and West Kildonan neighbourhoods.

Canada Post employees began doorknocking in the areas two weeks ago, alerting homeowners whose front yards have been tapped as possible hotspots for community mailboxes.

Ben Zorn, president of the Prairie region of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, said he heard his first complaint from someone who had been approached by Canada Post today.

He’s expecting to hear a lot more about the mailboxes in the coming days as residents find their yards are candidates for new boxes.

“These people haven’t all been reached out to yet or communicated with,” said Zorn. “Of course people are going to be upset and they should be, because we as Canadians are shareholders in this Crown entity.”

Susan Green found out through a neighbour that the park next door to her home on Daffodil Street was tentatively tapped as a new community mailbox location. Canada Post alerted her neighbour, who lives on the opposite side of the park, about the new development, but didn’t mention it to Green.

“I bought into a nice community and I don’t know why they have to make it here,” said Green, who’s lived in her Daffodil Street home for 10 years.

Green cited increased traffic, garbage and safety concerns surrounding the mailbox spot, which will be at a bend in the road between Daffodil and Teakwood.

“I’m concerned it’s a family-oriented area and I know the kids play in the park and everything like that. The traffic will increase at the park,” she said.

“Another thing too is if I were to ever sell, it’s not very attractive to have to the community mailbox right in your yard and it might deter people from buying.”

Zorn wishes Canada Post would stick to home-delivery service in older neighbourhoods.

“In the newer neighbourhoods that are built with these community mailboxes in mind, carry on. In older neighbourhoods, let’s continue providing excellent customer service to the door,” he said.

“Let’s get creative and find solutions rather than hack and slash at this Crown corporation.”

jessica.botelho-urbanski@freepress.mb.ca

Preliminary locations for community mailboxes

The map below depicts the tentative locations for community mailbox locations in parts of Winnipeg with postal codes starting with R2V and R2P. The map is based on information provided by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which compiled the locations based on documents shared by Canada Post to determine letter-carrier routes. Address indicators are approximate; click on any marker for detailed information on the box location.

Can't see the map above? Try viewing it in a new window.

Map by Inayat Singh.