Flowers and messages of sorrow surrounded a telephone pole at the corner of Clark Avenue and Pogue Street in Raleigh on Thursday.

The photo taped to the pole showed a woman smiling ear to ear at the location she was killed in a car crash.

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It’s an accident that neighbors sadly say, they’re not surprised by just days after an NC State University professor was killed crossing Clark Avenue.

The crash happened Tuesday evening near Chamberlain and Gardner Streets on Clark Avenue. Raleigh police said Natalia Duque-Wilckens, 41, was found in the road with serious injuries and later died.

According to Raleigh police crash data sourced from Crosstown, Duque-Wilckens' death is the first traffic-related fatality here since at least 2015. However, residents say the area is prime for something like this to happen.

The same data shows a steady increase in crashes since 2020, peaking with 50 crashes along Clark Avenue last year.

The latest data, through the middle of October, puts Clark Avenue on pace for 48 crashes this year.

“It’s super busy,” Sam Thornton, NC State grad student said. “I’m concerned when I cross any street. You got to look both ways and be safe and make sure they’re going to stop.”

“You hear cars stopping quite frequently and hear the brakes,” Sean Woodham said. “My wife goes the other direction to not cross here.”

Woodham has lived here for just over five years. He’s about two blocks away from where this crash happened and it looks very different.

Bright yellow bollards dot the intersection with signs warning drivers of pedestrians crossing with thick, bold, newly painted white crosswalk lines to boot.

It’s helped, but it hasn't eliminated the issue.

“It’s helped slow people down when they see folks crossing,” Woodham said. “But at night, it’s a free-for-all. People still speed by. You can still hear cars and still see accidents happen.”

Tragedies like Tuesday evening’s crash are something he thinks could continue happening. He says daily, he hears the sounds of traffic calming measures failing. Screeching tires, crunching plastic and the first responder sirens rushing to help those in need.

Through October of 2025, there have been no deaths or disabling injuries on Clark Avenue, according to RPD data. However, the number of serious injuries has seen an increase, including 3 each of the last three years.

To try and improve the corridor, Woodham hopes the city will add more street lights, stop signs and possibly even speed bumps to slow drivers down. He’s happy with his block, but hopes more can be done further down.

“There’s nothing down there,” Woodham said, pointing to the intersection where Duque-Wilckens was killed. “They only have zebra crossing but no stop signs. At night, it’s not well-lit. You have students crossing, teachers crossing. They can all get hit.”

The City of Raleigh has a list of traffic calming projects it has completed, including one on the other side of Clark Avenue, over a half mile away from where this fatal crash took place. According to data by the City of Raleigh, the project dropped the speed of most motorists from 34.5 mph to 25 mph.

If you’re interested in looking into traffic calming measures for your neighborhood, you can find more information on the City of Raleigh website.