Heavily criticized changes to postal service in Peoria will be on hold for now

Potential changes to how the United States Postal Service will operate in Peoria on are hold, for now.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy wrote in a letter to U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., that he will agree to "pause the movement of the processing operations associated with the Mail Processing Facility Reviews."

The USPS had previously introduced a plan that would have seen facilities like Peoria's mail processing and distribution center shrunk down and converted into what the postal service dubbed local processing centers. The plan faced immense backlash from Congress, postal workers and members of the general public.

Now, it appears that the postal service is going to put the changes on hold until after Jan. 1, 2025, DeJoy said in his letter to Peters.

More: Postal service changes that will affect Peoria are moving forward

Critics of the plan have slammed it as nothing more than an ill-conceived cost-cutting measure, while the postal service has argued that it will not only cut costs but also increase efficiency.

In the Peoria area, critics of the plan questioned how sending local Peoria mail to suburban Chicago and then back to Peoria would increase efficiency. Local Peoria mail currently operates on an overnight delivery standard. This proposal by the USPS would have changed the standard to 48 hours, a change critics felt was not exactly an increase in efficiency.

A group of Illinois politicians that included U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (5th District), Nikki Budzinski (13th District) and Eric Sorensen (17th District) sent a letter to DeJoy in March criticizing the plan.

More: 'We are concerned': Leaders express worry over central Illinois proposed mail changes

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Changes to Peoria postal service operations put on hold