A Yarmouth teenager who was mowed down and killed by a drunk driver more than 30 years ago is about to have her memory honored anew with an updated public walkway bearing her name.
Work is expected to begin soon to expand the Beth Condon Memorial Pathway in Yarmouth, state transportation officials said.
Before doing so, they are seeking comment from area residents as to whether the project would create to possible encroachments onto historic properties.
15-year-old Yarmouth High School sophomore Elizabeth Condon was killed by drunk driver Martha Burke in 1993 as she walked along U.S. Route 1 with her boyfriend, James Young.
The couple had just been to a video store in Yarmouth Marketplace.
Burke’s car swerved into the breakdown lane, and while Young managed to avoid the car, Condon was hit and thrown 65 feet over the guardrail and down an embankment.
Burke pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to twelve years in prison, with eight years suspended.
A gift from the estate of Carl Condon ensured that his daughter’s legacy walkway will continue, and likely grow, for generations to come.
The Beth Condon Memorial Pathway, a two-mile segment of the East Coast Greenway, opened in 1996 as a memorial to Carl’s daughter.
In the months following Beth’s death, Yarmouth residents took an in-depth look at pedestrian and bicycle safety.
As part of that effort, her Yarmouth High classmates conducted an inventory of the town’s walkways.
In 1994, the idea for a memorial pathway to prevent similar tragedies by getting pedestrians off the road was born.
The Maine Department of Transportation funded much of the cost of the initial phase of the pathway, with a grassroots fund-raising campaign helping to cover the town’s portion.
In the years since, the pathway has been lengthened in multiple phases.
Elizabeth Ann Condon was born in Portland on November 6, 1977 to parents Carl and Andrea. She was an honors student, a member of the school’s soccer team and played the flute in the band. She was also a member of the choir and took part in school plays.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="34782 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=34782">2 Comments
If I was king , people convicted of drunk driving would lose one eye . If they did it again they would lose the other . Mandatory sentence . No appeal .
The article tells us the very tragic story and about the loss of a precious life .Her name should never be forgotten . It fails however to explain “ possible encroachments onto historic properties “ and what exactly that means .
I have just one question about this horrible accident .
Were the kids walking facing oncoming traffic or did the drunk come up from behind them .
So many people these days just don’t know what side of the road to walk on .
Schools don’t teach that kind of stuff .
They are more interested in scaring kids to death from global warming and using the wrong pronouns .