Residents want N.C. 12 safety path

"In the wake of several fatal accidents in recent years, concerned residents of the Ocean Sands section of Corolla are hoping that Currituck County will complete a proposed bike and pedestrian path before tourist season starts this spring. The proposed path, part of Phase III of the county’s “Connecting Corolla” project, is to run along the east side of N.C. 12 for a distance of about two miles between Food Lion and Harris Teeter.

But there is no guarantee that the permitting process will be completed in time to make the tourist season deadline. And some residents say an impasse over easements with a local developer, the Coastland Corporation, could delay the project and make the path somewhat less safe than hoped. 

Community pressure to complete the bike path increased after the hit-and-run death of Asen Zahariev last August. Zahariev, a 22-year-old student from Bulgaria, was hit and killed on Aug. 25 by a vehicle as he was walking along the shoulder of N.C. Highway 12 in Corolla. Zahariev was in the United States on a J-1 Visa granted by the State Department as part of its Work and Travel Exchange Program. Working in Corolla for the summer at Harris Teeter and Dunkin Donuts, Zahariev was set to return to Bulgaria in September.

“He was known to his friends here as ‘Ace,’” Corolla Civic Association President Barb Marzetti told the Sentinel, “and he was hit right outside the section where I live. I used to see him every day, walking his dog. A memorial was put up right away at the spot in his honor, and it’s still there. We want to raise funds for a memorial bench for Ace and for the Pennsylvania couple who were killed. But most important of all is getting this path built before tourist season comes again. We don’t want to see any more fatalities along this highway.”   ...... "

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Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 12:00 am   NEEL KELLER