Calls for action after another crash shuts Riverside Drive

Neighbours and businesses along a stretch of Riverside Drive in London are demanding action following another damaging crash.

Around 4 a.m., a small hatchback struck a hydro pole across from Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.

The driver of the car sustained minor injuries.

The circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.

But, Roula Drossos, the general manager of the cemetery, is growing tired of repeated incidents, “They are taking this curb far too quickly, and they end up driving through our cemetery fence. Like I said, our fence has come down three times since I’ve been here in 2020.”

Damage is visible to a building at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in London after hydro wires were pulled off as a result of a collision on Riverside Drive. (Sean Irvine/CTV London)

CTV London has attended the aftermath of some of those crashes, including one incident in 2022. In mid-February, a car flipped on its side damaging, the cemetery fence.

Friday's crash was far more damaging.

Multiple wires stretched across the roadway.

The collision also triggered a chain reaction as lines snapped. The tension from one of them pulled bricks and siding off a building inside the cemetery.

Meanwhile, hydro, including traffic lights, was knocked offline across a wide area.

London police were directing vehicles at the busiest intersection affected, Wharncliffe Road and Riverside Drive.

Back at the crash scene, another cemetery employee, Jeremy Williams, stated he's seen at least a half-dozen similar incidents over the past decade.

“This one is definitely the worst I’ve seen,” he said.

Doreen, who declined to share her last name, often walks with a friend inside the cemetery.

The pair told CTV News they refuse to walk along Riverside Drive, given the frequency of crashes and driver speed.

“They just come up this hill way too fast, simply because there are no lights in this area,” they said. 

Roula Drossoss is the general manager of Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (Sean Irvine/CTV London)

More traffic lights are one suggestion to improve safety.

Others say guard rails and speed bumps are warranted.

But area resident Derek Gator believes Riverside Drive may need to be redesigned.

“I think it is the curve of the road. The way the road curves, and potentially drivers as well,” said Gator. 

For her part, Drossoss isn’t sure what the best solution is.

But she said it is taking too long for city engineers to act, “Does someone have to get killed for someone to do something about this?"