Dangerous drivers targeted by upcoming police blitz at Mississauga plaza

Stunt drivers, speeders and others who disobey rules of the road will again be targeted this weekend by a police blitz at and near a west Mississauga plaza notorious for the dangerous driving behaviour.

On the heels of a similar and successful enforcement effort over the Labour Day long weekend, Peel Regional Police are once again deploying dozens of officers to Ridgeway Drive in the city’s west end, with a focus on Ridgeway Plaza, from Friday through Sunday.

In the Labour Day weekend blitz (see video below), police laid nearly 250 charges and seized 14 cars.

The beefed-up enforcement of the area is in response to ongoing concerns and complaints from residents and businesses over the past few years.

In a post to social media on Friday, police said the “strategic enforcement operation” is an effort to continue addressing ongoing safety concerns in the Ridgeway community.

“There will be zero tolerance for driving offences or behavior that jeopardizes the safety and well-being of our citizens,” police wrote in the post to X (formerly Twitter).

Videos

During the Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 enforcement blitz, some 60 police officers descended on the area over a 20-hour period, supported by colleagues in a police helicopter.

City of Mississauga bylaw enforcement officers were also in on the blitz, which resulted in:

• 195 Highway Traffic Act charges (speeding, unnecessary muffler noise, illegal tinted windows etc.)
• 43 Highway Traffic Act summons (stunt driving, street racing)
• 14 vehicles seized
• one Criminal Code arrest
• 66 bylaw/parking-related offences

Ridgeway Drive runs north from Dundas Street West to Eglinton Avenue West (see map below), to the east of Highway 403. Ridgeway Plaza, the site of numerous ongoing noise and dangerous driving complaints, is located just south of Eglinton.

Most of the complaints the past several years are related to excessive noise, nuisance gatherings and traffic collisions caused by the dangerous drivers, police said.

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish, who for years as Ward 5 councillor dealt with similar issues at Westwood Square mall in Malton, applauded the coordinated enforcement blitzes.

She earlier described the illegal driving behaviour at and around Ridgeway Plaza as having “a serious disrupting influence in a residential community.”

Continuing, Parrish said “families in the area have suffered from noise, dangerous car racing and debris blowing through their neighbourhoods. Working together, long-term permanent solutions will be implemented.”

Map shows location of Ridgeway Plaza in west Mississauga.