The U.S. Postal Service office on Solano Avenue in Berkeley has had no internet, and drastically reduced services, for nearly two weeks. Credit: Zac Farber/Berkeleyside
The U.S. Postal Service office on Solano Avenue in North Berkeley has suspended most of its services while dealing with a nearly two-week-long internet outage.
Customers have emailed Berkeleyside curious whether the location at 1831 Solano Ave. is shutting down entirely; the service reported that the branch is not closing, and will soon be back to full capacity.
The reason for the outage, which began July 1, was “unknown,” according to a Postal Service spokesperson, Meiko S. Patton.
It was unclear when that repair was likely to be complete; until then, the service center is allowing customers with post office boxes to access them, but is otherwise out of commission.
When Berkeleyside visited around 10:30 a.m. Friday, the location was locked and nobody was visible inside, despite the posted hours for that location beginning at 9 a.m. that day, but the door was open again Monday afternoon and people were coming and going.
The Postal Service suggests customers who typically use the location go about a mile west to a nearby full-service location at Cornell Avenue, on the Albany end of Solano. There are also collection boxes — curve-topped blue metal mailboxes — every few blocks all along Solano Avenue.
Within Berkeley there are three more service centers around downtown and the UC Berkeley campus, another in West Berkeley on San Pablo Avenue at Addison Street and one more in Northwest Berkeley at Eighth and Harrison streets. In South Berkeley there is a service center near the Ashby BART Station and Elmwood has a storefront on Webster Street near College Avenue.
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Alex N. Gecan joined Berkeleyside in 2023 as a senior reporter covering public safety. He has covered criminal justice, courts and breaking and local news for The Middletown Press, Stamford Advocate and…
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