The U.S. Postal Service’s St. Louis Processing Facility will soon have just over 30% more territory to cover.
The USPS has already announced that it is closing its Springfield facility and moving all of its processing to the St. Louis facility. The closure of the facility is expected to impact between 19-35 jobs moving out of the area.
The St. Louis coverage area will now cover all or portions of Adams, Brown, Pike, Scott, Morgan, Greene, Macoupin, Sangamon, and Menard among others. St. Louis already covers much of the eastern portion of Missouri. Its coverage currently touches the borders of Iowa, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Central Illinois lawmakers say the change is going to slow the delivery of local bills, medications, and mail-in ballots among other items. Illinois cities including Peoria, the Quad Cities and Champaign are also expected to lose their sites and have mail processed in Chicago.
Lincoln Land Area Local 239 represents postal workers in Springfield and told WAND-TV that on-time deliveries will likely drop below 50% once the closure takes effect. Union workers also say that some services, especially in rural communities, will also likely be cut.
Some opponents and skeptics to the plan say it is a part of Postmaster Louis DeJoy’s plan to dismantle the postal service. DeJoy says that the closures will make the postal service less costly and more efficient.