“It was bearable when RTP served only corporate customers and the leadership, the manager of the post office in RTP understood that companies did need to have a street mailing address,” said Scott Levitan, CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation, the managing entity behind RTP.

But now, with hundreds of residents moving into RTP as a development spree unfolds, it’s getting worse. Add with recent rule changes, and it’s been untenable for some RTP businesses, Levitan said.

Companies have had to purchase P.O. boxes outside of RTP or request that packages be sent to their personal residences – all to receive mail in a timely manner.

“Everyone expects mail delivery to their home,” Levitan said. But right now, at least in RTP where a single office – 65 TW Alexander Drive (ZIP code 27709) – serves the entirety of the RTP campus, that’s not happening.

The U.S. Postal Service did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this story.

“Companies located in the many other business parks around the country likewise receive carrier delivery service for their mail needs,” the companies’ letter say. “It is only those of us located within the RTP boundary who are denied this vital public services.”

A bipartisan contingent of lawmakers sent their own letter pushing for change.

“While we appreciate your ongoing efforts to hire and train new personnel to meet USPS’s staffing needs, we have yet to see improvements in the efficiency of this Post Office and, to our knowledge, USPS has not taken steps to begin physical carrier delivery service to the campus,” the letter says. It's signed by U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, Sen. Thom Tillis, Sen. Ted Budd and Rep. Valerie Foushee.

Both letters ask for a swift solution.

“These service changes are a significant degradation to the already very limited postal service provided to RTP companies,” letter says. “Furthermore, these changes may also jeopardize multiple RTP companies’ compliance with other federal and global regulatory bodies that require physical addresses to be used for filings and records.”

The letter had 10 pages of signatures, including those of Oliver Sherrill, senior market director at Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE: ARE); Nigel Armes, director of R&D operations and site management at BASF Corporation; Marc Benz, general manager at Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB); Nichole Rapuano, COO of Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) Raleigh; and Tim Humphrey, senior site executive at IBM (NYSE: IBM).

Asking for change

In letters sent this week to the Postal Service, business leaders and state lawmakers described how recent changes at the RTP post office have made the situation worse. In April, the post office suddenly added a new requirement that only mail addressed to PO Box numbers would be delivered – and even mail including PO box numbers following a street address would be returned to sender.

The letter from businesses says that prior to the notice, RTP companies were able to use their street address and pick up their mail at the RTP post office.