Street racing problem may soon be eliminated near Mississauga plaza: city

Street racing and other dangerous driving behaviour that have become commonplace in and around a plaza in Mississauga’s west end the last few years may soon be eliminated altogether after the city councillor for the area pushed for and received an urgent solution to the ongoing problem.

As many as eight speed humps are now — or soon will be — in place on Platinum Drive and Odyssey Drive (four speed humps on each road), which are located next to Ridgeway Plaza in west Erin Mills, Ward 8 Coun. Matt Mahoney told INsauga.com in an interview on Wednesday.

Those roads have become notorious street racing spots since the plaza opened in 2022 to the southwest of Eglinton Avenue West and Ridgeway Drive.

The plaza and surrounding neighbourhood have also drawn considerable attention from Peel Regional Police the past few years as stunt driving, speeding and street racing have become regular occurrences.

Aerial image shows location of Ridgeway Plaza in relation to Platinum Drive, Odyssey Drive and Ridgeway Drive.

Additionally, numerous public complaints about late-night gatherings and traffic concerns have been received since the plaza opened.

Mahoney, also one of the city’s two deputy mayors, put forth an emergency motion at city council on July 30 calling for traffic calming devices to be placed on Platinum Drive, Odyssey Drive and “within certain public highway portions of the driveway access points to Ridgeway Plaza … on an expedited basis.”

The councillor’s sense of urgency stemmed from knowledge that numerous instances of “dangerous and reckless driving” are currently taking place and action must be taken to increase “the safety of residents and visitors in the area.”

In introducing the motion, which passed unanimously, Mahoney noted Peel police have laid hundreds of charges the past two years in “dealing with significant road safety issues in and around Ridgeway Plaza, including dangerous and reckless driving, speeding, unnecessary noise, street racing and stunt driving.”

He also pointed to a fatal crash last Aug. 16 at Ridgeway Drive and Odyssey Drive, next to the plaza, in which a motorcyclist was killed. Speed was a factor in the deadly two-vehicle collision, Mahoney added.

Ward 8 Coun. Matt Mahoney, also one of the city’s two deputy mayors, is confident street racing near a west Mississauga plaza will soon be a thing of the past.

The councillor told INsauga.com he’s confident the speed humps and other traffic calming measures being implemented (including traffic control bollards) “will eliminate street racing (and other dangerous driving) and increase public safety” in the west Mississauga neighbourhood.

In August and September 2024, 530 charges were laid — ranging from stunt driving and speeding to unnecessary muffler noise and illegal tinted windows — at and near the west-end plaza as police targeted the area with weekend-long enforcement blitzes.

Earlier this summer, a video posted to social media showing three vehicles being driven “recklessly, swerving on the roadway and into oncoming traffic” near the plaza led police to four arrests.

Investigators determined the reckless driving incidents took place on May 25 during a car meet on Platinum Drive, near Ridgeway Plaza.