'It's horrible': Residents on Matchette Road fed up from speeding in neighbourhood

Residents on Matchette Road are complaining about speeding and aggressive driving in the area from Prince Road to Chappell Avenue. City officials, however, report that speeding in the area is "about average" to the rest of the city.

Many residents find the speeding especially concerning because Matchette Road leads up to a few parks, as well as a children's centre, where a high volume of young Windsorites can be found.

The speed limit on the road is 50 km/hr, but some residents say they would like to see that number reduced to at least 40 km/hr, which actually may not yield the best results, according to a recent city council report.

The report specifies "reducing the speed limit without physical changes to the roadway has negligible effect on vehicle operating speeds."

Reducing the speed limit could also "cause lower compliance with the speed limit," according to the report.

Melissa Davies, who has lived on Matchette Road for a year, said she's seen a number of accidents since moving in.

"There's been a couple accidents on this road already. There's quite a few fast drivers down this street. It includes drunk drivers. They're hitting other vehicles. It's quite busy of a road," she said.

Her son, Jacob Davies, said someone ran over his cat a few months ago on the road.

"A van came and hit it and just left it there. He survived for a few days and he was in pain. We had to listen to him suffer. It was pretty sad," he said.

Raven Luiten is another resident in the area and she said her car "got totalled" last year:

"You have people beeping at you. You have people right on you when you drive. ... It's constant. The amount of accidents and reckless driving that I've seen on the street in the past over 10 years that I've lived here. It's horrible."

Luiten said she wants drivers on the road to stay vigilant for any children, animals, pedestrians and cars pulling out of driveways.

Ashan Veerakumar moved into the area in June and said the road played into his decision not to use a car.

Instead, he prefers to use public transit. Veerakumar said even he saw a car crash during a night out weeks ago.

"Speed calming is a big issue," said Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante, who represents the municipal ward in which Matchette Road is situated.

He said residents have voiced their concerns about Matchette Road.

Costante said the city is working on providing extra signage, adding that he asked Windsor city council months ago to look at photo radars and red light cameras as a way of calming traffic.

"It is an important connection in the city. It's a continuation of Tecumseh Road on one end and it connects to the E.C. Rowe Expressway at an interchange. So, it does naturally attract some volume," said Jeff Hagan, a transportation planning engineer for the City of Windsor.

Hagan added that Matchette Road is a class one collector road and speeds and volume are typical from what he sees on collector roads.

'Road safety is a shared responsibility'

He also said residents are welcome to file any requests to reduce speed limits in the area by contacting 311.

Costante said he can provide any assistance to residents wishing to file a request, which goes through the city's traffic engineers.

Residents, at the end of the day, just have one message for drivers passing by: Slow down and take your time.