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The state Department of Transportation will not let the town of Pomfret install a sculpture at the center of the Routes 20 and 60 roundabout.
Deputy Town Supervisor Ann Eckman has been working with the DOT for more than a year on plans to beautify the roundabout center, which currently contains nothing but pavement and weeds. At the September Town Board meeting, she frustratedly told fellow Pomfret officials that Joe Sorci's "Unfurl" sculpture, intended for the roundabout, will have to go elsewhere.
The state has "declined every request to put something into the middle of the roundabout, and it's due to the approach speed at our roundabout," Eckman said. Evidently, the 45-miles-per-hour speed limit on Route 60 is too much for state traffic planners, who will only allow items in roundabouts if the approach speed is 30 miles per hour at all sides.
Since DOT fears it's a hazard there, "we are no longer putting the sculpture in the middle of the roundabout," Eckman said.
Instead, it will go nearby, in the right-of-way of nearby Rite Aid, she said. She's now submitting permitting for that. However, she doesn't expect it to be ready by the time winter sets in, meaning "Unfurl" won't get unfurled until at least 2024.
Sorci refused permission for the OBSERVER to publish a photo of the sculpture; there are photos online.
Eckman explained why she thinks flowers in the roundabout center are a bad option. "It is an extremely busy section and if we wanted flowers there, we would have to have people hauling water (there) on a daily basis," she said.
The latest plan is to put colored, decorative stonework in the center of the roundabout. Eckman said DOT would agree to that and she is meeting with a contractor who might do the project. She's optimistic it could get done in the fall.
As for "Unfurl" in the roundabout center, DOT "was not gonna budge," she said. "I have tried every which way."