Biggest snow victim: Danville mailboxes

After two days of plowing streets, Danville’s Public Works department had another snow-related chore to take care of Tuesday: replacing mailboxes felled when the plows tossed heavy snow on them.

Amanda Allen, who lives on Westover Drive, said she learned first-hand about the mailbox replacement program.

Allen said she was out walking her dog Sunday and saw one plow go by, scraping an inside lane of the four-lane road, but didn’t notice another one was coming, in the lane closest to her. All of a sudden, she said, she was covered “head to toe” in the wet snow and her mailbox was on the ground.

Luckily, her dog — a miniature dachshund that objects to walking in snow — was unhurt; it had taken cover under a parked car, Allen said.

Allen admits she was pretty angry, and called Public Works to complain about her soaking and the destruction of her mailbox.

“They said someone would get back to me, but no one called,” Allen said.

But Tuesday, while she was at home on her lunch break from work, Allen saw a Public Works crew arrive and begin replacing her mailbox.

Rick Drazenovich, director of Public Works, said the mailbox replacement program is just another part of snow removal.

“Mailboxes are so close to the street; we realize some mailboxes get hit by snow plows and we’ll replace them if people report it,” Drazenovich said.

The snowstorm this weekend had especially wet and heavy snow, Drazenovich noted, making mailbox damage even more likely.

Drazenovich also said he was sorry Allen got drenched, but said the driver of the plow probably didn’t even see her.

“If he’d known, he would have stopped and made sure she was OK,” Drazenovich said. “But they’re focused on watching the road and the plow edge, to be sure it doesn’t hit the curb.”

Anyone who lost their mailbox because of a plow passing by can report it by calling Public Works at (434) 799-5245.

Drazenovich said the U.S. Postal Service also lets Public Works know about damaged mailboxes after a snowstorm.

“They’ll call us with a list; they can’t deliver to downed mailboxes,” Drazenovich said.

Allen said she is pleased with her new mailbox and understands she was probably too close to the road while plowing was going on, but she just hadn’t expected the second plow to come right behind the first one.

“Most of the time, they just do the inside lanes, not both lanes,” Allen said.