Following legislation passed by Congress earlier this year, the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday it will no longer consider ending mail sorting at Tucson’s Cherrybell plant.
Ward 5 Councilman Richard Fimbres called the move a “victory” after more than a decade of effort to keep Tucson’s Processing and Distribution Center at 1600 S. Cherrybell Stra. open despite the Postal Service’s effort to close the Tucson site.
“The announcement is a great victory in our 11 and a half year effort to keep Cherrybell, Tucson and Southern Arizona’s post office and processing center, open and functioning for our community,” said Fimbres. “Cherrybell serves more than 1.5 million people, 26,000 businesses, seniors, veterans, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, the Tohono O’odham Nation and communities in Southern Arizona.”
Fimbres added he was following up on how the proposed plan would affect Cherrybell’s operations, including whether some work will return to Tucson. Currently, under USPS consolidation efforts, first-class mail collected in Tucson is trucked to Phoenix for sorting and processing. Fimbres also said he is working to get Tucson’s postmark back.
Thursday’s announcement was “simply a regulatory process,” said David G. Rupert, a USPS spokesman.