The Batavia Post Office at 2 West Main street has been undergoing renovations to the main entry stairs since the middle of July 2021.
Since the project started, the front east sidewalk was closed and part of the front stairs demolished. Patrons say they are having difficulty in figuring out how to enter the building to use the US Postal services. A common site is patrons walking in the roadway in front of the closed sidewalk. Upon further inspection of the signage, an 8×5 piece of laminated paper with instructions on how to enter the building was located.
After speaking with several patrons who use the post office quite often, they have yet to master the art of entering the front of the building to mail packages and pick up mail.
Many people are parking in the parking lot near Tim Hortons and walking in the westbound lane of Main street to enter/exit the building.
According to Batavia Post Master Lisa Allen-Costa, patrons are to park behind the post office and walk up the grass between the Batavia Police Department and the Post Office. When arriving at the front of the building, there is a set of stairs for use or a wooden ramp for handicap accessibility.
After catching up with a newer user at the post office on Thursday, as she was attempting to enter the building by first parking in the fenced in parking lot behind the Post Office(meant for employees), and then realizing the area was fenced in and she was unable to enter the front of the building, the newer user got back into her van and parked in back of the Batavia Police Department, taking the walk up the grass to the front of the building.
“There should be more signage,” the unnamed patron says. “I’ve been here before, but how would someone know parking back here in this lot that walking along this orange fencing leads you to something thats not concrete rubble. Heaven forbid you are a senior citizen, that’s a long walk, you don’t know until you get there if you are going to be able to access the front of the building.”
Another question that an unnamed patron brought up was how do customers with wheelchairs or walkers access the entrance when having to walk across the uneven grass path.
“What happens in winter,” says the patron. “Are they going to shovel a pathway along the grass?”
As far as the timetable for reconstruction completion, the answer is unknown currently. The Post Master in Batavia was unsure when the project will be completed. A call in to the US Postal Service Public Relations representative in Buffalo on Friday afternoon in regard to the length of the project was not returned as of Saturday afternoon.
