Since November 2008, the speed limit in the neighborhoods Rothwell Heights and Shepard Boulevard, have dropped from 30 mph to 25 mph.

Before officially changing the speed limits in residential neighborhoods all around the city, they wanted to test out drivers to see if changing the signs would effect their driving.

Not much has changed for Neil Jones, who lives on Shepard Blvd, except for the new speed limit. He said cars still speed by when they pass the front of his yard.

"We have a few young people around that see how fast they can go from stop sign, to stop sign," Jones said. "I know it's the younger folks because they're thumping the radio pretty hard".

The City Council paid MU researchers $10,000 dollars to find out if changing the speed limit signs effected drivers. MU professor and principle investigator of the research, Dr. Carlos Sun, said there was another addition to the neighborhoods besides the signs.

"We have anomynous detection, but they're not very visible," Sun said. "We deploy these detectors on these roads and we measure the speeds".

Dr. Sun wouldn't say where the detectors were hidden, but they can be anywhere, even in Jones' front yard.

The two neighborhoods were selected as test areas because they are right next to busier streets with higher speed limits.

Shepard is located by Old Highway 63 and Rothwell is located near Stadium Blvd.

Sun said the research will be completed by the first week of May.