By SHANNON PRIEBE

After several years of lobbying the U.S. Post Office and City of Seattle, Lake City business leaders and residents are close to getting their wish: the installation of a drive-by mailbox on the shoulder of NE 120th, just off Lake City Way.

The mailbox, which is located on the south edge of the parking lot for the Lake City Market, is designed to ease traffic congestion around the Lake City branch Post Office on NE 127th, between Lake City Way and 30th Ave. NE, which has been a problem for years.

However, while the project finally appears close to completion, close only counts in horseshoes.

The project, which is to include a pedestrian walkway and a paved parking area, continues to face delays.

Carol Wittig, an assistant engineering specialist with the city, said work on the drive-by mailbox project has been stalled due to trouble with the drainage in the location.

"There was a problem with puddles in the area that wasn't noticed before," Wittig said. She added that the problem has been straightened out, but a completion date for the project has not been set.

Frank Fadden, owner of Clark Office Products in Lake City, who has lobbied the city for more than two years to install the drive-by mailbox, believes public pressure is needed if the project is to ever be completed.

"The more the public knows there will be a box, the faster we'll get to use it," he said.

Fadden explained that there have been other delays in implementing the mailbox since ground was broken on the project in November.

Besides building the traffic island for the mailbox, the project also calls for the creation of a pedestrian walkway, but the city has been waiting for dry weather and the right temperatire in order to paint it.

The walkway was added to the project in order to garner an extra $4,000 in funding support from the city's Department of Neighborhoods, said Fadden.

Other funds for the project, which is estimated to cost a total of $9,000, is coming from an Early Implementation Fund approved by the City Council.

Since neither the lines for the walkway or the fog line in the street has been painted, Fadden worries that the asphalt will need to be replaced as a result of cars that cut the corner.

"There will be fog lines on either side of the walkway and one in the street to keep people driving in the street," Fadden said.

While they wait for the new mailbox to be installed, Fadden encourages Lake City-area residents to use the drive-by mailbox in front of Claire's Pantry restaurant.

The mailbox was moved there in August because it impeded traffic at its old location on Lake City Way and NE 125th, Fadden said.

For more information on the project, call Frank Fadden at 362-1250.