East Watertown, New Town Post Offices May Close; Post Office Studying Some Area Branches

The East Watertown Post Office and the New Town Post Office are two of 31 in the Boston area under threat to be closed by the U.S. Postal System, in an effort to streamline the post office.

The process will start with a study of customers and employees at the two branches of the post office. East Watertown Post Office is located at 589 Mt. Auburn St. and the New Town branch is located at 123 Galen St.

“In the next few days the district manager will gather up observations of customer activity and employee workloads at the East Watertown Post Office,” said Dennis Tarmey, spokesman for the USPS’s Greater Boston District.

The process is the same for all branches being studied, Tarmey said.

Management at the Greater Boston District post office management will decide within 6 months about which locations will close.

Town Councilor John Donohue said he had not heard details about the study, but would be against closing the East Watertown Post Office, which is in the Coolidge Square area.

“It would be very disappointing if they are truly proposing this,” Donohue said. “The east branch is very important to the Coolidge Square community. The Post Office has and should be locally accessible to all, for the citizen’s convenience, not at the convenience of the government.”

Other local post offices being studied include the Nonantum Branch in Newton, the West Newton Post Office and the South Waltham Post Office.

Another factor Post Office officials will consider when making their decision is what postal services are available in the area around the branch, Tarmey said. Some areas have Post Office services in supermarkets, convenience stores, office supply stores and pharmacies, according to the USPS.

After the initial study, officials in Boston will decide whether to continue with the process, Tarmey said.

“If they want to take it to the next level, people with post office boxes will receive questionnaires and questionnaires will be available in the lobby,” Tarmey said. “They will be able to ask questions about the possibility of East Watertown Post Office closing.”

If the decision to shut the branch moves closer, Tarmey said, a community meeting will be called so people can ask questions in person.

Tarmey said the list of branches to be studied was released July 26. The list includes 42 post offices in Massachusetts – part of the 3,700 nationally to be studied – and it came from Postal officials in Washington, D.C., Tarmey said.

In a release, Postmaster General Patrick Donohue said Americans have changed the way they use the post office.

“Our customer’s habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business,” Donohue said in his statement.