USPS to remove mailbox in 7500 block of Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda

The United States Postal Service has announced it intends to remove the mailbox outside 7514 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda on November 23, 2023. A sticker announcing the planned removal was attached to the mailbox yesterday. It does not cite a reason for the removal of this particular mailbox. However, it provides a phone number to call, if you would like to contest the plan to remove it: 301-767-1742.

Removal of USPS mailboxes has been a controversial topic, since I first started writing about them many years ago. Arguments change, but the level of controversy remains the same. When the USPS began removing Bethesda neighborhood mailboxes in places like Sumner, my reports generated a few critical comments from people who said, "nobody uses mailboxes anymore." My reports on thefts from Bethesda and Chevy Chase mailboxes proved that theory wrong, as numerous residents reported having their mail stolen and checks washed. Finally, when mailboxes across the country began disappearing in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, many Americans and news outlets declared this a conspiracy masterminded by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to deter the return of ballots by mail. It turns out that mailboxes are still important after all!

YET ANOTHER USPS MAILBOX TO VANISH IN BETHESDA (PHOTO)

I recently reported on the planned removal of at least one mailbox from the sidewalk outside of the U.S. Post Office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue. But another even more venerable Bethesda mailbox could be removed from its longtime spot on August 21. Due to limited demand, the USPS says, it will reduce the number of mailboxes at the Shops at Sumner Place on Sangamore Road. 

Since there is only one freestanding mailbox on the property, by my recollection, I assume they are referring to the mailbox at the outer edge of the shopping center parking lot, right off Sentinel Drive. The only other mailbox nearby, as I recall, was at the entrance of the apartments around the bend on Sentinel Drive. According to the USPS, the second-closest mailbox in walking distance is on Westpath Road. The Sumner Place box was convenient for residents of the townhomes and condos across Sentinel from the shopping center.

Interestingly, demand apparently remains high for the mailbox at the Westwood Shopping Center, on Westbard Avenue. There are no notices regarding low demand or planned removal of that box, located outside of the Westwood Pet Center at the busy shopping center.

BETHESDA POST OFFICE PLANS TO REMOVE OUTDOOR MAILBOX IN AUGUST (PHOTOS)

The U.S. Post Office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda plans to remove one of its two outdoor mailboxes on August 21, 2014. According to a note posted on the mailbox, the removal is due to low demand. 

I can't argue with that. This is a minor issue compared to the many problems that remain after the debacle that was the Bethesda Post Office decision. No convenient parking. No functionally-accessible parking for the disabled near the post office entrance. No drive-by dropboxes for letters and packages. And not within easy walking distance of a major portion of downtown Bethesda.

Until the county can come to grips with the outstanding issues that remain with the new post office, a reduction to one mailbox seems trivial.

No convenient parking,
and no functionally-accessible
parking for the disabled

The consolidation of downtown
Bethesda's 2 post offices into
this location remains an
unsolved mystery

Who in Montgomery County
was involved in the selection
of 6900 Wisconsin Avenue, and
who wasn't involved?