News from Eastpointe - Roseville Chamber of Commerce

Access Management
Traffic Safety along the south Gratiot Corridor (8 Mile to M 59) was the topic of a recent Public Open House held at the Eastpointe City Hall. Using a concept known as Access Management, planners from the firm of LSL Planning in Royal Oak presented a number of recommended physical changes along Gratiot's intersections driveways and medians that would help to reduce the number of traffic accidents, as well as improve the traffic flow.

Using a collection of two years of traffic accidents, planners recommended changes in areas where there have been a high number of accidents. The recommendations included reducing the numbers of driveways accessing Gratiot where they come within 300 feet of another driveway or an intersection, and to limit the number of driveways to a multiple store development.

These recommendations will be presented to the local communities and are expected to be incorporated into the zoning ordinances. While there may be some changes to the medians from the Michigan Dept of Transportation in the future, changes effecting current business driveways will be only be identified as code changes IF the property is redeveloped. However, if the current business owner would like to improve the property to reduce the accident potential, the codes and suggested changes would be available through the Building Department.

The City of Eastpointe is an active member of the 8 Mile Blvd Assoc. which is a very active group that works with the local communities and counties that border 8 Mile from Lake St. Clair to Livonia. The association has worked diligently over the past few years to make many noticeable improvements. Improvements that have benefited Eastpointe in the recent past have been Beautification Awards, clean up along 8 Mile Rd, median signs and gardens, and fa�ade improvement grants.

At a recent meeting, it was announced that a two year grant has been provided from the Community Foundation for a "Corridor Keeper". This grant will provide code enforcement across the entire 26 Mile stretch of 8 Mile which will help to improve the appearance of the important route. Last year's resurfacing of 8 Mile Road by MDOT has made transit over this route quick and easy. Improving the appearance of the properties along 8 Mile will encourage more people to use this route which could help to bring more business to Eastpointe.

At a recent meeting, the City Council approved a Towing Contract with one of our local businesses...Woods Towing. Although the bid was not the lowest, Glenn Neunner has invested thousands into his business in Eastpointe, and has been a very active part of our community. Council feels strongly that we will support our local businesses as much as possible and encourages local businesses to bid on all
contracts. Opportunities for new contracts are always posted on the city's web site.

Next month, the City of Eastpointe has been chosen for the annual Mayor's Exchange. During Michigan Week, we will exchange Mayors on Government Day with the city of East Lansing. Plans are incomplete at this time, but East Lansing's Mayor, Vic Loomis, will be touring our city and plans to join the Chamber and guests at the annual Michigan Week dinner. Plan to attend the dinner and welcome Mayor Victor Loomis from East Lansing.