Drivers repeatedly crash into Boulder post office

BOULDER, Colo. — The U.S. Postal Service is dealing with an unusual trend at its location at 55th Street and Valmont Road in Boulder. 

Within the span of 13 months, three drivers have crashed into the building on three separate occasions. 

“Yeah, it’s sort of like the community is trying to tell us we need a drive-thru location here in Boulder,” USPS spokesperson James Boxrud said. 

Boxrud said he covers USPS communications in Colorado and Wyoming and can only recall two other similar incidents at two other Colorado locations. 

“So having three times here at the Boulder post office, same location, same side of the building, it does make you wonder,” Boxrud said. 

The first major accident happened in July 2023.  

Boxrud said a car drove through the building and into the lobby. He said a customer inside got hit and pinned to one of the counters. 

“After that, we went ahead and started putting in these cement flower pots, thinking if that were to happen again, that would kind of slow it down,” Boxrud said.  

The flower pots prevented future accidents until August of this year. 

“Somebody hit us on the far end of the building,” Boxrud said. “That was before we opened, so nobody was hurt or anything like that. And then just recently, we had all the flower pots and the car went between the flower pots, just breaking the window and not actually going through the building.” 

Boxrud said he can’t pinpoint a reason as to why this keeps happening. All he can do is come up with more solutions to try and prevent it. 

“You know, this is on an upward slope,” Boxrud said. “We’re not sure. More of a permanent solution is we already purchased the bollards (traffic barriers), we’re waiting on the contractor. We’ve already put in the bid. And we’re going to put bollards in all the way on both sides of the entrance.” 

Boxrud hopes the stronger defense will stop drivers at the curb before they can drive into the building. 

“What I honestly believe is once we put the bollards up, nobody will ever hit them again,” Boxrud said.