Question: Every time I go to the downtown post office there is a vehicle blocking the outdoor, drive-through mailbox. At first I thought it was a random motorist being rude. But this has happened to me three times in the past two weeks. Every time I’ve tried to drive up and drop off mail I couldn’t because the … mailbox was blocked by a dark-colored federal government vehicle. Is this outdoor mailbox being blocked from use on purpose, or am I just unlucky?
Answer: The vehicle you described shuttles postal workers to another site. The shuttle driver will be more careful not to block the collection bin now that the downtown post office at 335 Merchant St., has been advised of your complaint.
Here’s the full explanation from Duke Gonzalez, a Honolulu-based spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service:
“We apologize to your reader for the inconvenience caused by his/her hindered access to our Richards Street curbside mail collection boxes. The vehicle described by your reader is used by our downtown postal station to shuttle mail carriers from the facility to the off-site location of our postal delivery vehicles. This system is necessary because the very limited space in the loading dock area of our downtown facility requires us to base our delivery vehicles elsewhere, and our mail carriers to take turns driving into the loading dock in order to load up mail in their delivery vehicles. While the shuttle service is in operation during the early morning the van is parked for short periods along the curb on Richards Street near the collection boxes. That curb is also used by mail carriers in their delivery vehicles awaiting their turn to enter the facility’s loading dock.
“We will make every effort to ensure that the shuttle van and mail delivery vehicles do not block access to the Richards Street curbside mail collection boxes during the period that the shuttle is in operation. If your reader ever does find his/her access to those collection boxes blocked, he/she can use the curbside collection boxes located just around the corner on Merchant Street, between our postal facility and the city’s metered parking lot.”
Satellite City Hall
The busy Satellite City Hall at City Square at 1199 Dillingham Blvd. closes for good at the end of the day Friday. The office is moving to the Kapalama Hale facility at 925 Dillingham Blvd., and is scheduled for a “soft opening” there on Tuesday, according to a news release from the city.
The city warns of potential customer-service delays for the first few days, so anyone with easy access to other Satellite City Halls may prefer to use them during the transition. You can find alternate locations at satellitecityhall.com.
The city is moving several offices to Kapalama Hale, formerly known as the Sprint Building. It’s makai of Honolulu Community College, at the corner of Dillingham Boulevard and Alakawa Street.
The Driver Licensing Center at City Square will be the next customer-service center to relocate. The last day of service at City Square for driver licensing will be June 24, with a soft reopening scheduled for June 28 at Kapalama Hale.
Auwe
The pedestrian light button on the Ewa-makai corner of the Queen Street and Kamakee Street intersection is not working. I am retired, handicapped and 81 years old and I walk Ward Avenue, Auahi Street, Kamakee Street and Waimanu Street every day. It’s really frustrating having to cross Queen Street heading mauka on Kamakee Street without the pedestrian light. When walking makai on Kamakee to cross Queen, the pedestrian light button on the Ewa-mauka corner is working, but drivers coming from Ala Moana run through the red lights frequently, while I am in the crosswalk with my cane! There is going to be a fatality here sooner rather than later. — Mahalo and aloha, Capt. T.J. Davies Jr. (Ret.)
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
