TOLEDO, Ohio — A new city initiative is raising concerns about how it's trying to cut down on speeding. Toledo's Vision Zero plan includes eliminating traffic deaths which they said is on average around 32 people a year.
The initiative aims to make roads safer and reduce the number of traffic deaths in Toledo to zero.
Most residents are used to getting a traffic bump or speed readers, but residents on Whitechapel Drive, off of Heatherdowns Boulevard, in south Toledo said they got barriers and a sign that read "we are trying something new."
Most residents said they like the idea but don't think it's working.
Tony Matoni has lived in south Toledo for 10 years. He often sits and watches, and now he sees more cars coming through his neighborhood than he has in the past.
"It's tripled in traffic flow here and it's not residents that are cutting through this neighborhood," Matoni said. "They are speeding, every three or four minutes there are cars speeding up and down."
Now, with the introduction of the barriers, Matoni watches drivers maneuver around them. The sign reads Toledo is trying something new by calming traffic. The barriers aren't working though, Matoni said.
"They slow down until they get around the barrier and then they rush to the corner and then they continue on," he said.
Matoni has seen the change and even welcomed new neighbors, like Sandra Beining. She said she moved to south Toledo last month. And the traffic is an all-new experience for her too.
"Right now, we've got a lot of cars coming through I don't think they even slow down," Beining said.
Beining worries about children that play nearby. She said one of them might run into the street on Whitechapel Drive at the wrong time.
"I'm against the white pillars," Beining said. "I don't think they look good. I don't think they slow people down at all. If they are going to put something up, I hope it's the speed bumps."