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Category: Current Issue

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Closing
The Taft Pond Road will be closed Friday, March 12 because the bridge has deteriorated more since the state's last inspection last year. Courtesy photo.


By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
POMFRET — The state is closing Taft Pond Road to through traffic March 12, according to First Selectman Maureen Nicholson.
She said the closure would be for an undetermined period of time. The State DOT recently said the bridge must be closed because of “deterioration of the substructure.”
She added the Town of Pomfret is “aggressively pursuing remediation to minimize closure time and a contractor is expected to be on site within a month.”
She said the state had done a light inspection of the 25-foot bridge in January 2020 and had told the town it was in bad shape, adding that the town had years to repair/replace it.
The town began looking into different repair options. In the meantime the bridge was posted to a 3-ton limit and reduced to one lane.
The state recently conducted another inspection and said the bridge had deteriorated since its last inspection and ordered it closed, Nicholson said.
The recent town meeting approved the expenditure of $200,000 for repairs. Nicholson said they intend to repair it for the short term and “we’re hoping it will get us several years” to work through the state bridge program.
The bridge (No. 05664) is approximately 1 mile north of Route 97. Crossing the Mashamoquet Brook, the bridge was last rebuilt in 1993.
An alternative route is Chase Hill to Fire Tower Road.

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