Residents Understanding of Possible Post Office Closures

After the U.S. Postal Service that two of Arlington’s three branches will be among the 3,700 nationwide considered for closure, residents, for the most part, said they understand the changing times and only view the news as a “minor inconvenience.”

“Do we really need three post offices (in Arlington)? No!” Susan Urichuk Russian wrote on Arlington Patch’s Facebook wall. “People do so much more electronically, and you can buy stamps everywhere now.”

The , at 240 Massachusetts Ave., and the , at 1347 Massachusetts Ave., were on the state list of 43 locations under review. The in Arlington Center, at 10 Court St., was not.

Even though they’re on the list, the two smaller Arlington branches won’t necessarily be closed. In January, the Postal Service put 1,400 locations under review in a similar move, and, so far, only 280 have been shuttered. Of the rest, 200 will remain open and the other 920 are still being evaluated, according to the Huffington Post.

The Postal Service, which lost $8 billion last year, said the possible closures are due to more and more of its business being conducted online or in grocery, drug or office supply stores, among other retail outlets.

“Our customer’s habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a release.

The Postal Service, which currently has 32,000 offices nationwide, also introduced the idea of “Village Post Offices” Tuesday, or post offices, primarily in rural areas, operated by local businesses.

Residents outside the Arlington Center branch Tuesday afternoon shared Russian’s sentiments.

“The lines here aren’t too bad,” said one Arlington Heights man who said he comes to the post office every so often to buy stamps and mail packages.

Another Arlington man said either of the proposed closures wouldn’t be a problem for him, but he felt for those who have more trouble getting around.

The two branches being considered for closure already have reduced hours. The East Arlington office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Arlington Heights office, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the Arlington Center one is open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the week and 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.