A year after a hit-and-run driver killed Marcela Herrera in Pilsen, three blocks of Ashland will get safety Improvements

Family, friends, and neighbors of the late Marcela Herrera, 22, gathered Sunday in Pilsen’s Dvorak Park to hold a march marking a year since a hit-and-run driver fatally struck her. The event coincided with the Chicago Department of Transportation’s recent announcement of plans for safety improvements on a three-block stretch of Ashland Avenue near the crash site, including a pedestrian island at the intersection where the crash occured.

According to police, on Saturday, July 19, 2025, around 11:20 p.m., the driver of a silver Jeep struck and killed Herrera, and seriously injured her fiancé, Mauricio Leyva, 21, as they crossed Ashland in a crosswalk at Cullerton Street. The investigation remains open and with no new developments, and family and friends continue to push for accountability.

One year later, “Not one more”

The March for Marcela began with organizers highlighting the story of Herrera and other victims of deadly traffic violence.

“Justice for Marcela looks like youth, hood guys, servers, artists, bartenders, mamas y papas, healers, elders, Pilsen natives and community collectives stepping up when others didn’t,” said Diego Garcia. “It’s a demand and not an ask. We demand street safety infrastructure. We demand an Ashland Avenue made for pedestrians. We demand that undocumented women get to live long, happy lives. We demand that Chicago’s youth can live without the fear of dying.”

The march then traveled down 21st Street to Ashland. Attendees took over the northbound travel lanes on Ashland Avenue, forming a circle in the intersection at Cullerton where Herrera was struck and killed.

There, organizers created a circle of flower petals and candles, Daniel Flores performed a song, and Cristina Puzio led the group in a ceremony facing the four cardinal directions. While gathering on Ashland Avenue, one attendee appeared to faint from the heat and an ambulance was called. The march then return to Dvorak Park along 18th Street.

A tent dedicated to Herrera will also be included in this year’s Tacos and Tamales festival on July 17-19, the same festival Herrera worked on the night of her death.

Concrete plans announced

Last Wednesday, staff from CDOT’s Complete Streets team plans for safety upgrades on the three-block stretch of Ashland between Cullerton Avenue and 18th Street, which includes Cullerton. Staff later mentioned that the presentation had been delayed by six weeks after Riley O’Neil, 35, who had worked on the project, was fatally “doored” on his bicycle near 32nd and Halsted streets in Bridgeport, about two miles southeast of Herrera’s crash.

According to CDOT, the 1,000-foot stretch of Ashland, which already has a pedestrian island on the north leg of its 18th Place intersection, will get another island on the north leg of its Cullerton intersection, where Herrera was struck. A concrete curb bump-out is also planned for the southeast corner of Cullerton/Ashland, and other new concrete bump-outs will daylight corners on 19th Street and 18th Place. These safety improvements will be paid for with aldermanic menu money.

CDOT will also install temporary paint-and-post bump-outs at three corners of the 19th Street intersection. Two corners of 18th Place will also get paint-and-posts daylighting bump-outs with, which CDOT is calling a “Rapid Delivery Improvement.” The intention is to be replaced these with concrete infrastructure next year.

CDOT staff could not confirm a scheduled date for completing the 2026 installations. But they said they hope to finish them before the nearby schools are back in session.

“The tragedy of Marcela, and others of course, is a call for action for all of us, especially intersections where children and families are crossing,” said local representative Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th). The designs are the result of a traffic study initiated at the alderman’s request following Herrera’s death, which included significant outreach to the nearby schools.

“I can’t tell you how many times I have almost probably dislocated (my daughter’s) wrist trying to run across Ashland to get across to school,” said Guadalupe, a parent at the Saint Pius V School, during the meeting. “As you know toddlers are very tiny, they can’t walk fast.”

The project does not include changes south of Cullerton Street, including Ashland’s intersection with Cermak Road and Blue Island Avenue next to Benito Juarez High School. In May 2025 at that complex, five-way intersection, a semi driver reportedly disobeyed his signal while making a turn, and fatally struck a male pedestrian, 44.

Asked why the project did not extend further south, CDOT staff cited the limited budget for the project. Arterial resurfacing funding could be used for a longer stretch of the road, but the federal funding involved in that program would have extended the project timeline.

Organizers of the March for Marcela are circulating a Change.org petition demanding that Sigcho-Lopez and CDOT follow through with building the pedestrian refuge island at ther site of Herrera’s tragic death.

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