CHANGES BEING MADE TO MAIL ROUTES IN CAPE

Mail delivery is about to change in Cape Girardeau.

The local post office has re-evaluated its routes.

"We did a route evaluation of all city routes," said Michael Keefe, manager of the Cape Girardeau Post Office. The results of that evaluation started taking shape Thursday, he said.

Three things could happen, said Keefe.

"Some people will get their mail earlier, some people will get their mail later, and some people will be seeing a new mail carrier," he said.

The route re-evaluation is the first in seven years in the city.

During that time, some new homes have been built, a few have been torn down and some of the routes have changed considerably.

In some instances, eight-hour routes have turned into 10-hour routes, noted Keefe.

"We've had some complaints that mail was being delivered at 5 p.m.," said Keefe. "Hopefully, the re-evaluation will solve this problem. Most of the routes are designed to be completed by 4 p.m."

In the process, the post office has added one full eight-hour city route and a two-hour auxiliary route.

During the first few weeks, however, some carriers will run late, Keefe cautioned.

"People will be carrying different areas," said Keefe. "Sorting the mail will be different. But hopefully, all that will iron out later."