BETHANY BEACH, Del. - Bethany Beach is facing a wave of controversy over the construction of a new pathway. The proposed pathway will stretch from Collins Street, Kent, and end at Wellington, a popular route for locals walking to the beach.
Although the goal of the project is to promote safety, Tom Murphy, who lives on Collins Street, does not think it's necessary.
"The people walking in the street, although trolley drivers hated them, actually slowed traffic down, and people are used to people walking in the street, so they dealt with it," explained Murphy.
Bethany Beach Mayor Rosemary Hardiman says, although there have not been major accidents on the street, having people walk and bike in the middle of the street is unacceptable.
"It's a very heavily used pathway for pedestrians, the whole street is. People come from Bethany West and Turtle Walk, walk down Collins to Kent, over to Wellington, and to the beach," said Mayor Hardiman.
A similar project was done on Cedarwood Street in Bethany. One neighbor on Collins Street told CoastTV, that neighbors have hired a lawyer to challenge the project.
Glenn Brown, who also lives on Collins Street, says the only problem he has with the project is that he will lose some street parking.
"Now the pavement's 3-4 feet closer to the house, so that's what we lost as far as parking, but we'll modify it to make parking easier for us," explained Brown.
Other residents told CoastTV they were upset because they were losing some of their driveway. The town says they will work with neighbors, but a lot of the street parking people used was actually town property, and no one's private property is being taken. The town expects the project to be done by June 14th.