CHAMPAIGN — Champaign's mail processing and distribution facility could pick up extra volume as a result of proposed cuts outlined by the U.S. Postal Service.

The postal service last week proposed closing 252 of its 487 mail processing facilities to save money. Among those considered for closure are facilities in Bloomington, Effingham and Springfield.

Under the proposal, Champaign would pick up Effingham's load and part of Bloomington's load. The rest of Bloomington's load would go to Peoria.

The proposal will be studied over the next three months and could be implemented next year.

Closing the mail processing facilities could affect 35,000 workers, according to The Associated Press.

The postal service also announced this week it plans to reduce service standards for first-class mail.

That mail is supposed to be delivered in one to three days, depending on how far it's going. The new standard would be delivery in two to three days, meaning no next-day delivery.

The measures come as the postal service grapples with how to handle excess capacity, the result of a sharp drop in first-class mail.

The number of first-class letters bearing postage stamps has dropped 36 percent in the last five years and 50 percent in the last 10 years.

Too little mail means processing equipment is under-used.

"We would have equipment sitting idle too many hours a day, and we need to get it back to work," said Valerie Welsch, a spokeswoman for the postal service's Gateway District in St. Louis.

In July, the postal service said it was studying 3,700 post offices and postal stations for possible shutdown, including about 30 in central Illinois.

The closings and service changes could save the post service as much as $3 billion a year.

The postal service has also asked Congress for permission to eliminate Saturday mail delivery and to delay payments to cover future retiree medical benefits.

In February, the post service said it was studying the idea of moving mail-cancellation services from Champaign to either Bloomington or Springfield.

But Welsch said she believes the study has been put on hold.

This week's proposal would consolidate several mail processing centers in Illinois with other facilities. Here's how some of the centers would be affected:

— Springfield's processing and distribution center would be consolidated into one in St. Louis.

— Carbondale and Centralia processing centers would be consolidated into Evansville, Ind.

— Quincy's processing and distribution facility would be consolidated into Columbia, Mo.

— Rockford's center would be consolidated into Madison, Wis.

Mail handled by processing and distribution centers in Aurora and in Gary, Ind., would be consolidated into a processing center in Bedford Park.