Brian Kelley | The Roanoke Times

A customer walks into the post office on Williamson Road on Tuesday. The branch post office will close March 20.

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The Williamson Road branch post office in Roanoke will close March 20 and the U.S. Postal Service may consolidate a mail sorting center in Lynchburg with one in Roanoke, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The steps come as the Postal Service faces a 20 percent drop in mail volume -- from 213 billion pieces mailed in fiscal 2006 to 170 billion in 2010 -- and an urgent need to reduce costs in light of an $8.5 billion loss in fiscal year 2010.

Postal box customers of the branch at 3623 Williamson Road N.W. were informed of the closing in letters sent last week. A sign also is posted in the lobby of the small post office along the busy road, just south of James Breckinridge Middle School.

Box holders can obtain new postal boxes and other services at the main post office at 419 Rutherford Ave. N.E., located 1.9 miles south. Services also are available 3.4 miles to the north at the Hollins Station.

James Broce, walking out of the Williamson Road branch after retrieving mail Tuesday, said he knew the Postal Service had plenty of reasons to cut costs. "I can understand why, but it's really an inconvenience to the community," Broce said.

In August 2009, the Williamson Road and Hollins post offices, along with branches on Grandin Road Southwest, Church Avenue downtown and Melrose Avenue Northwest, were on a list of nearly 700 branches announced for possible closure out of more than 36,000 branches nationwide. The list later was pared down to 400 locations, with Williamson Road among them.

Meanwhile, the Postal Service held a meeting Monday in Lynchburg on a proposal to consolidate a mail processing and distribution facility in that city with one in Roanoke, which would result in 10 Lynchburg employees being offered jobs elsewhere in the Postal Service.

The Postal Service last year saved $100 million by consolidating 35 "Area Mail Processing" facilities nationwide, spokeswoman Cathy Yarosky said.

The decision on consolidating the sorting center is up for public comment by mail until Feb. 8. After that, a decision will be made in 30 to 60 days.