They discuss the US Postal Service woes.
Annapolis, Md (KM) The problems with the US Postal Service were brought up last Friday during a meeting of the Frederick County Legislative Delegation. Lawmakers met virtually with 8th District Representative Jamie Raskin
Delegate Jesse Pippy asked him if there was anything that could be done to improve service. “Who can we either fire or hire to straighten it out,” he asked.
Raksin said he’s also hearing from constituents about the Postal Service. “There’s basically been an effort to undermine the Post Office, and to sabotage its operations. And, boy, it is working,” he said.
Raskin said there are a lot of people who depend on the Postal Service for paying bills, sending parcels and receiving medications. “I call and get directly involved frequently in trying to deal with problems of people not getting their mail, small businesses not getting their checks, or not having their checks sent out. People are getting kicked off of their credit cards, having their credit cards cancelled. Just crazy stuff going on,” he says.
Recently, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said first class mail may take longer to get to its destination, and Post Offices could have shorter hours as a way to save money.
Representative Raskin said the membership of the Postal Regulatory Commission should be replaced. The Commission oversees the Postal Service and sets rates.
He also asked anyone whose having problems with the Postal Service to contact his office. He says he has a staff person, Krystal Burton, who is handling those complaints.
On another issue, the Delegation also approved Frederick County’s top transportation priorities. The number-one project is still the widening of Route 15 between Route 26 and Interstate 70, according to traffic engineer Mark Mishler. “It’s also even going to be critical that we get that project moving forward with the pace that Maryland is moving forward with the P3 program. And improvements along I-270 are only going to potentially increase traffic along the corridor, and it doesn’t have anywhere to go at this point,” he said.
P3 stands for Public Private Partnership, which is being used to fund improvements for I-270.
The Route 15 project has been funded for preliminary engineering. The plan is to widen the highway from four to six lanes. Both Frederick City and the County along with the Maryland Department of Transportation and the State Highway Administration agree that the additional lanes should be constructed in the median.
The approval on Friday puts this project in the state’s Consolidated Transportation Plans which would make it eligible for construction funding. The project is expected to be completed by 2030. But SHA, and Frederick City and the County are looking to identify cost reductions which could finished the project before 2030.
County Executive Jan Gardner said Route 15 project will be submitted for placement in the federal infrastructure bill, along with Phase 4 of I-70 project. That would widen the highway from the I-270 on ramp to the truck climbing lane near Mount Phillip Road. “People coming from 270 and cutting across the 340 that’s a pretty high speed merge,” she said. “I don’t want to forget that I-70 Phase 4 because both of them need to be done.”
By Kevin McManus