BATON ROUGE - After a 20-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly striking and killing an LSU student and her fiancé, transportation experts warn more measures are needed to protect students along a busy stretch of Nicholson Drive.

This deadly crash was the latest in a pattern of deaths on Nicholson Drive. Shane Hirstius and Leah Fonte, both 2, walked along the shoulder of the road, an area without sidewalks and with little lighting, and now DOTD and LSU have released statements promising to change that.

"There's a lot of foot traffic walking in this immediate area,” L’Jean McKneely with BRPD said. “They have apartments here, bars, convenience stores here and right down the street.”

Through the years, WBRZ has reported that several LSU students have been hit and killed around the same area leaving Tigerland. In 2022, at the corner of Nicholson Drive and Bob Pettit Boulevard, a car hit 19-year-old Tripp Guillory, and a month after that, Daniele Eme was killed a block away.

Each tragedy has pressured city and state officials to do something to make the stretch of road safer, like adding more lights and sidewalks. Even without sidewalks, pedestrians tend to walk on the shoulder of Nicholson Dr.

Transportation and Drainage Director Fred Raiford agrees, saying he hopes that coming changes will end that pattern soon.

In August, a $28 million construction project started, and crews continue working to widen the thoroughfare from two to four lanes, adding new paths for pedestrians and cyclists.

"The goal and objective is to have complete sidewalks and bike lanes," Raiford said.

In a statement sent Monday afternoon, Mayor-President Sid Edwards says his office is working alongside DOTD to improve safety, while construction continues. WBRZ asked if those measures would include additional lighting, but the office has not responded at this time.

“These tragedies underscore the importance of improving pedestrian safety throughout our parish,” Edwards said.