In what seems to be turning into an annual event — paralleling the onset of autumn — the towns of Woodstock, Pomfret, and Reading will block tourist traffic from certain destinations again this year. Meanwhile, visitors to Quechee won’t be getting the full view of the Quechee Gorge as the bridge enters its third and final year of construction.
In Pomfret, the selectboard voted unanimously on Aug. 6 to restrict motor vehicle traffic along Cloudland Road, and on Aug. 19, the Woodstock Selectboard followed suit. The joint plan will effectively close the entirety of Cloudland Road in Woodstock, as well as Cloudland Road south of Barber Hill Road; Barber Hill Road will allow only one-way traffic westbound, and will be closed to all eastbound traffic. There will also be parking restrictions. According to an Aug. 20 memorandum, parking will be prohibited on either side of Cloudland Road “from immediately north of the driveway to 3655 Cloudland Road to immediately south of the driveway to 2763 Cloudland Road,” and also on either side of Barber Hill Road “from immediately east of the driveway to 1178 Barber Hill Road to the intersection with Cloudland Road.” Those exempt from these restrictions include residents, guests, contractors, delivery drivers, and emergency workers.
The Pomfret and Woodstock traffic restrictions will be enforced Oct. 4-19 — one week shorter than last year’s closures — a decision made in part due to feedback from residents. The chair of the Pomfret Selectboard, Ben Brickner, told the Standard, “We hope to gradually taper off this intervention over time [while] still addressing the emergency services and quality of life concerns that necessitated the closures in the first place.” Brickner said the plan “has proven successful in managing traffic while maintaining emergency access and accommodating the needs of local residents, without adversely impacting tourism overall.”
While Pomfret decided to shorten its window of traffic restrictions this year, Reading will close off Jenne Road for a longer duration, from Sept. 19 to Oct. 15. Speaking to the Standard, Reading selectboard member Robert Allen said that the issue was more about how the calendar happened to fall this year versus a worsening situation in terms of tourist traffic — though he did note that as of the Sept. 16 meeting, in which town residents voiced their wish to shut down the road, “there had already been photographers up there, setting up on the road and making it impossible for anybody to pass, even with a car. So we decided we would close it.” He added, “The color was not that great at that point in time, but in the last week it has popped out here in Reading.” While Oct. 15 is the planned date to end the road closure, Allen did say that the town might end the restrictions sooner, depending on this year’s number of visitors.
For more on this, please see our September 25 edition of the Vermont Standard.
