BATON ROUGE — A newly paved walkway stretched down Nicholson Drive near Tigerland on Wednesday as part of continued efforts to improve safety in the area after a couple was fatally struck by a car while walking home from the bars.

State Rep. Dixon McMakin said the blacktop sidewalk is a temporary solution as construction continues on the Nicholson Drive Project, which will bring permanent safety improvements to the area. McMakin said the sidewalk will be moved to the other side of the street at the end of the project.

LSU and city leaders are still working with Entergy to add lighting along the walkway, McMakin said, but he expects new lights to be ready by Saturday for the Alabama game. 

"We need to make sure that public safety is always first," McMakin said.

The safety upgrades come as a direct response to a hit-and-run crash that killed two 21-year-olds — LSU student Leah Fonte and her fiancée, firefighter Shane Hirstius — at the corner of Nicholson and Lee Drive.