Unsafe construction zones blamed for week without mail delivery in East Gwillimbury
Up to Canada Post to protect its employees, the corporation says

YorkRegion.com
Aug. 12, 2015
Simon Martin

Canada Post is on the naughty list for some customers in Holland Landing.

Residents of Hillcrest Drive didn’t receive postal delivery for one week at the beginning of August and weren’t notified about the service lapse.

According to Canada Post spokesperson Eugene Knapik, delivery was stopped because of safety concerns.

The corner of Hillcrest and 2nd Concession sees huge construction traffic at the moment as a new French Catholic school is built concurrently with the 2nd Concession reconstruction.

Knapik said Canada Post is looking into why residents weren’t notified about not receiving mail and apologized for the delay in communications.

Delivery resumed late last week.

While the delay wasn’t a crisis, it left many residents frustrated. Outgoing cheques for thousands of dollars sat in the outgoing mailbox waiting to be picked up. Bills were holed-up at the Canada Post office in Newmarket.

For resident Peter Rumplemayr, this delay meant waiting for a much needed payment. “We were waiting for my wife’s social security cheque,” he said. “It took over a week. We are seniors.”

Other residents were upset Canada Post didn’t have the courtesy to tell them what was happening. “It was inconvenient. It would have been nice if (mail delivery) stopped because of construction that they would have notified us,” homeowner Jacqueline Rueping said.

While the delay didn’t cause problems for Sheryl Middlemiss, she was still a little upset that no mail came for a week. “I was mad but we ended up getting the mail.”

The Regional Municipality of York Region met with Canada Post on site last week, 2nd Concession project manager Mark Nykoluk said. The matter has been resolved and Canada Post said it will move some mailboxes temporarily.

Nykoluk also disputed the idea the area was too dangerous to navigate for Canada Post. He cited garbage collection and newspaper delivery as services that have continued without any interruption.

It is Canada Post’s responsibility to ensure the safety of its employees, Knapik countered.

Some residents suggested construction crews weren’t properly controlling the intersection through flagging but Nykoluk disputes that claim, insisting flaggers are present at any area where work occurs, Nykoluk said.

“In the past, we have received calls requesting additional flagging, however, not lately,” he said.

The 2nd Concession reconstruction project is a $94-million plan to widen the road to four lanes and allow sewage to be pumped down from East Gwillimbury to the York Durham Sewage System and, eventually, up to the proposed sewage treatment plant in Queensville.

Portions of the road are scheduled to open later this year while the bridge at Rogers Reservoir isn’t scheduled to be open until next summer.