'How many more lives are we going to lose?': Residents demand changes on Commissioners Road East

Marcia Patterson's stomach drops when she hears ambulance sirens along Commissioners Road East in London, Ont.

“It happens all the time,” she said. “All the time!”

Patterson lives in a new neighbourhood abutting Commissioners Road East at Sheffield Boulevard.

On July 31, 2023 a 22-year-old motorcyclist died in a two-vehicle crash near the intersection.

Then on Wednesday night, the London Police Service confirmed another fatality a short distance away.

At approximately 6:45 p.m., emergency responders arrived at the scene of a single-vehicle crash near Jackson Road.

One adult driver was found deceased.

While an investigation is ongoing, Patterson worries it could be a reminder that more traffic controls are needed along Commissioners Road East.

The London Police Service attended a single car crash in the area of Commissioners Road East and Jackson Road on Nov. 15, 2023. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

“It’s getting very sad, the speeding, the accidents. Something has got to be done,” she said.

Fred Hain backs Patterson's plea. In 40 years of living along Commissioners Road East, he has seen a lot of changes.

Hain recalls quieter days when seeing a vehicle was a rarity.

“I’d see maybe about five cars a day,” he said.

But as a new subdivision begins to surround his home, Hain has watched traffic volumes dramatically increase.

“I can’t count [how many cars go by],” he said.

And with more vehicles come more serious crashes.

“Oh man, I would say about 10 around here, in just the past few years,” Hain told CTV News London.

And that is far too many, according to Ward 14 Coun. Steven Hillier.

Fred Hain has lived along Commissioners Road East for 40 years in London, Ont. In that time, he says, traffic volume has grown from a few cars a day to an amount he "can’t count." (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)Just two months after pleading for action to be taken, he is heading back to London City Hall to demand traffic management measures, including additional traffic lights.

Hillier said traffic counts study to date have not accounted for the “real issue,” which he said is safety.

“If you understand me, I get very frustrated,” he said. “Because, when someone says, ‘Well, here is the traffic count, and it doesn’t cover this.’ I say to them, 'Well, tell that to their families.’”

Hillier said the city plans to improve Commissioners Road East between Jackson Road and Veterans Memorial Parkway in 2029.

But that is too late for him and residents, including Marcia Patterson.

“Five more years isn’t going to cut it. How many lives are we going to lose along this road? How many accidents are going to happen?” Patterson said.