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Speed limit brought down to 40 km/h in several Kitchener neighbourhoods

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Those driving through a neighbourhood in Kitchener may want to double check the speed limit.

A new plan from the city is knocking the limit in a few areas from 50 km/h to 40 km/h.

New signage has been put up on Hickson Drive, which resident John Head is happy to see.

"I've been asking for this for two and a half years," said Head. "I've got little kids playing in my yard now and we have to protect them, and we can't do that when they're doing 20, 30 over the speed limit."

Those in the Heritage Park neighbourhood are hoping the signs will make a difference.

"People just speed around me," said resident Alice Ryan. "They don't look where they're going. They don't care. I've had some close calls."

Kitchener city planners say reduced limits have already been proven to work through a pilot project in three neighbourhoods.

"Reducing the speed limit coupled with education efforts reduced the average operating speed of approximately three kilometers," said Aaron McCrimmon-Jones, the manager of transportation safety for the city.

McCrimmon-Jones adds that this significantly reduces the likelihood of vehicle collisions resulting in serious injury or death.

The city started converting neighbourhoods to 40 km/h and school zones down to 30 km/h in 2022, but more initiatives are on the way.

"We're approximately 20-25 per cent complete," said McCrimmon-Jones. "We hope to have the entire city converted all neighbourhoods to 40 km/h by 2023."

SPEEDING TROUBLES DESPITE LIMIT BEING DROPPED

Residents in the Country Hills neighbourhood say their speed limit was lowered a while ago, but they haven't noticed any difference, and that drivers still go 20-30 km/h over.

"I saw speeding before, I see speeding now," said resident John Stager.

Kim Holmes lives on Erinbrook drive and says she saw a car crash into a neighbour's home just one day ago.

Holmes adds that there was a similar incident a few doors down two years ago and that speed likely played a factor in both crashes.

"I'm not surprised at all, I'm furious," said Holmes. "Everyone's furious and we're scared. We know it's a problem."

Holmes is unsure what there's left to do to reduce speeding, but hopes more can be done.

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