
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 23, 1995                   TAG: 9503230080
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

INTERSECTION STILL A BOTHER TO MOTORISTS

Q: I was involved in an accident at Walnut Avenue and Eighth Street in Vinton, where they've installed new traffic islands. People at a store nearby said there have been a lot of accidents. How many wrecks have occurred there?

M.T., Vinton

A: That intersection averaged four accidents a year from 1989 through 1993, but town officials became concerned when seven crashes occurred in '93.

The two concrete islands were installed in early 1994, and four accidents have occurred since Jan. 1 that year, Town Manager Clay Goodman said.

Business operators in the neighborhood are divided on whether the intersection is better or worse since the islands were installed.

The number of accidents, however, has not increased, though traffic probably is heavier.

Early bird still flies

Q: When the post office started the "early bird" mail collections, they were promoted as giving people a reason to mail earlier in the day and receive faster processing of their letters. Has the early bird system produced the benefits that were expected?

J.R., Roanoke

A: The early bird has evolved since it began in November 1993 with the goal of processing more mail ahead of the nighttime crunch.

Businesses didn't respond to the promotion. They continued to mail around 5 p.m., Collections Manager Gary Irish said.

Still, the early bird system is approaching its goal of getting 40 percent of the mail processed by 6 p.m., Irish said. Internal changes at the post office, not earlier mailing by customers, produced the results.

Many sites failed to generate earlier mailings, and postal collections went back to regular times at those sites.

Carriers now drop mail collected early in their routes into designated early bird boxes at noon.

A truck makes the rounds of those boxes, getting mail to the processing station by 3:30. Those letters otherwise would have ridden with the carriers until their routes were completed late in the day.

The postal customers who benefit from this change are those whose mail is picked up from their home mailboxes early in the day.|

Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.

by CNB