Minnesota Administrative Rules

CHAPTER 8818, MAILBOX INSTALLATION AND SUPPORT STANDARDS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

8818.0100 DEFINITIONS.

Subpart 1.

Airspace.

"Airspace" means the space extending vertically upward from a particular surface on the earth.

Subp. 2.

Cross-sectional area.

"Cross-sectional area" means the area of the resultant shape defined by cutting through something at a right angle to its axis.

Subp. 3.

Encroach.

"Encroach" means to advance beyond the specified area or space.

Subp. 4.

Mailbox installation or installation.

"Mailbox installation" or "installation" means the entire mailbox structure including the support, mailbox, hardware, and attachments.

Subp. 5.

Mailbox support or support.

"Mailbox support" or "support" means the part of the mailbox installation that holds up the mailbox, excluding hardware and auxiliary attachments.

Subp. 6.

Neighborhood delivery and collection box units.

"Neighborhood delivery and collection box units" means a cluster of several individual locked mailboxes packaged as a single unit.

Subp. 7.

Pounds per foot.

"Pounds per foot" means the weight of a one-foot portion, measured vertically, of the mailbox support.

Subp. 8.

Usable roadway.

"Usable roadway" means the normally traveled vehicular lanes as well as the adjacent road surfaces that are used by motor vehicles, such as shoulders, turn lanes, and parking lanes.

Statutory Authority:

MS s 169.072

History:

19 SR 344

Published Electronically:

January 31, 2000

8818.0200 PURPOSE AND SCOPE.

Subpart 1.

Purpose.

The purpose of parts 8818.0100 to 8818.0300 is to provide for standards and permissible locations of mailbox installations and supports on streets or highways in Minnesota so that potentially hazardous fixed roadside appurtenances are eliminated.

Subp. 2.

Scope.

Parts 8818.0100 to 8818.0300 apply only to installations on streets or highways that have a speed limit of 40 miles per hour or greater.

Statutory Authority:

MS s 169.072

History:

19 SR 344

Published Electronically:

January 31, 2000

8818.0300 PROHIBITED MAILBOX STRUCTURES; EXCEPTIONS.

Subpart 1.

Unlawful installations and supports.

The following mailbox installations and supports are declared to be a public nuisance, a road hazard, and a danger to the health and safety of the traveling public if located along a street or highway having a speed limit of 40 miles per hour or greater:

A.

an installation that contains more than one vertical support;

B.

a single support containing more than two mailboxes;

C.

a wooden support with a cross-sectional area greater than 16 square inches at any above-ground point along the support (for example, the maximum allowable square and round support dimensions are four inches by four inches and 4.5 inches in diameter, respectively), except that larger wooden supports are acceptable if, at a height four inches above the ground, the support cross-sectional area is altered in some fashion so as to reduce the cross-sectional area at that point to 16 square inches or less;

D.

a metal support of a weight of four pounds per foot or more for any one foot of vertical measurement above ground (for example, a standard steel pipe of up to two inches inner diameter would be acceptable), except that larger metal supports are acceptable if, within the first three inches above ground the metal support is less than four pounds per foot (less than one pound for the three-inch length);

E.

a mailbox that is not acceptable for delivery of mail by the United States Postal Service;

F.

adjacent mailbox installations whose respective supports are spaced closer than 30 inches, as measured from center of support to center of support;

G.

neighborhood delivery and collection box units, whether or not United States Postal Service approved;

H.

a support comprised of material other than solely wood or metal that either exceeds 16 square inches in total cross-sectional area at a height four inches above ground or is of a weight of four pounds per foot or more for any one foot of vertical measurement above ground, unless within the first three inches above ground the support is less than four pounds per foot (less than one pound over the three-inch distance). Examples of such nonconforming supports could include supports such as filled milk cans, brick structures, plows, and concrete-filled pipe; and

I.

an installation, whether a support or closed mailbox, that encroaches the usable roadway or its airspace.

Subp. 2.

Exceptions.

Notwithstanding subpart 1, mailbox installations that are documented to have passed an accredited crash test are acceptable. An accredited crash test is considered to be a test conducted in accordance with procedures described in the most recent National Cooperative Highway Research Program report, "Recommended Procedures for the Safety Performance Evaluation of Highway Appurtenances," published by the Transportation Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, 2101 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418. This report and future revisions of this report are incorporated by reference. The report is not subject to frequent change and is available to the public at the State Law Library, Judicial Center, 25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155, and through the Minitex interlibrary loan system.

Statutory Authority:

MS s 169.072

History:

19 SR 344

Published Electronically:

January 31, 2000