On November 11th, 2025, the NC State community lost Dr. Natalia Duque-Wilckens at the intersection of Clark Avenue and Pogue Street. She was a professor, researcher, mentor, and neighbor. Her death was not an accident but the result of known and unaddressed safety failures.

This tragedy was not an isolated incident: 

• A previous fatality occurred at the same intersection in 2015.
• Three serious pedestrian injuries every year for the past three years along Clark Avenue.
• 50 crashes last year and 48 projected this year along Clark Avenue.

Recent incidents at Clark Avenue and Oberlin Road in June and July 2025 involved pedestrians who were struck because the driver reportedly “did not see them.”

Every statistic represents a real person. Someone walking home. Someone heading to work. Someone going to class.

At the intersection of Clark Avenue and Pogue Street, several preventable hazards exist:

• No overhead lighting makes pedestrians nearly invisible at night.
• Sight lines are blocked by trees, limiting drivers’ ability to see the crosswalk in time.
• The downhill slope encourages speeding, reducing reaction time.
• Only painted lines and a sign protect pedestrians, which is insufficient for a high-traffic area.

This is not just an infrastructure issue. It is a matter of responsibility. Students, faculty, staff, and residents rely on these crossings every day. They deserve to walk safely in their own community.

If proper safety measures were in place, Dr. Duque-Wilckens might still be with us today. We cannot change the past, but we can prevent future families from facing the same loss.