New speed limit on 10 major Mississauga roads catches some drivers off guard

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Published May 16, 2023 at 1:18 pm

(Photo: Unsplash)

The speed limit has been lowered from 70 km/h to 60 km/h on 10 stretches of major roads across Mississauga, and the move seems to have caught a number of residents and drivers off guard.

In unveiling the widespread speed reduction plan earlier this spring, City of Mississauga officials said they were taking action in order to save lives and prevent injuries by reducing the number of car crashes on the busy stretches of road.

The speed limit reductions, which are all now in effect, targeted all City-operated roads that just a month or so ago allowed vehicles to travel at 70 km/h, officials say.

The City says the move will make the roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, micro-mobility device users and drivers.

The new speed limit applies to the following sections of Mississauga roads:

  • Centre View Drive, between Mavis Road and Rathburn Road West
  • Courtneypark Drive West, between McLaughlin Road and Hurontario Street
  • Courtneypark Drive East, between Hurontario Street and Netherhart Road
  • Eastgate Parkway, between Cawthra Road and Eglinton Avenue East
  • Eglinton Avenue East, between a point 700 metres east of Dixie Road and east city limit
  • McLaughlin Road, between Britannia Road West and Derry Road West
  • Ninth Line, between the south city limit and Erin Centre Boulevard
  • Ninth Line, between Tacc Drive and the north city limit
  • Southdown Road, between a point 457 metres south of Lushes Avenue and a point 1,402 metres south
  • Winston Churchill Boulevard, between Eglinton Avenue and Britannia Road

“With lower speeds proven to reduce the seriousness of injuries from a collision, speed limits of 70 km/h are no longer appropriate within an urban setting like Mississauga,” said Geoff Wright, the City’s commissioner of transportation and works, in an earlier news release. “By continuing to lower speed limits, we’re doing what we can on City streets to discourage excessive speeds and unsafe driving behaviour that could result in significant harm or injury. Using a data-driven approach, we are working to change our infrastructure and shift how people move around the city.”

Mississauga officials say the speed limit reduction will not apply to roads in the city operated by the Region of Peel.

Some of these include:

  • Britannia Road East, between Terry Fox Way and Hurontario Street
  • Derry Road, between west of Torbram Road and Millcreek Road
  • Dixie Road, between south Eastgate Parkway and Steeles Avenue East
  • Erin Mills Parkway, between North Sheridan Way and Hwy. 407

Some Mississauga residents took to social media to express their surprise and, in some cases, disagreement with the speed reductions.

On one Reddit discussion, which focused on Winston Churchill Blvd. in west Mississauga, the creator of the post referred to the widespread speed reductions as “a sneaky move by the City.”

A commenter on the post said a similar speed reduction on a portion of Southdown Rd. in the south end of the city is a head scratcher.

“Don’t see the point of that one,” the person wrote, referring to the section of Southdown Rd. “south of Canadian Tire.”

Another commenter didn’t seem to think the move would make any difference at all.

“Who cares. People are going to speed anyway. All of Mississauga feels like a racetrack with irresponsible drivers,” they wrote.

From another commenter: “So, the City will reduce speed limits, yet that’s not going to do anything about the speeding and racing problems we have. There needs to be so much more enforcement.”

One person on the Reddit thread said they’d already been victimized in the wallet by the new speed limit.

“It’s how I got a speeding ticket. Thought the speed was 70 still and there was an unmarked cop and he stopped me and gave me a ticket.”

Mississauga last made city-wide changes to speed limits in 2020, when it lowered all neighbourhood speed limits from 50 km/h to 40 km/h and school zone limits from 40 km/h to 30 km/h.

Wright noted that reducing speeds is only one way the City is trying to make roads safer for all.

“We’ve also updated our pedestrian signals to provide more time to cross the street, introduced a $55 fine for parking in bike lanes and continued our School Walking Routes Program to promote active travel to school,” he said.

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