ST. CLAIR SHORES — At its meeting on May 5, the St. Clair Shores City Council approved restriping on Nine Mile Road in a 6-0 vote.

Councilman Chris Vitale was excused for the meeting.

With the help of the Macomb County Department of Roads, the city was able to come up with a plan to restripe Nine Mile at Greater Mack Avenue.

Community Development and Inspections Director Denise Pike presented the item to council and said Councilman John Caron and Mayor Pro Tem Dave Rubello were the “impetus” for the project. They met with the county to create the plans, and they originally wanted to have a delayed signal at the intersection.

“Staff of (Macomb County Department of Roads) presented an alternate traffic pattern that would reduce the number of lanes traveling west on 9 Mile Road to one, and utilize the second westbound lane as a left turn lane from Jefferson to just west of (Cavalier) Drive,” items attached to the agenda stated. “The two eastbound lanes would remain the same.”

Pike said the intersection has posed a concern for a long time.

“It is a scary intersection or can be a scary intersection and Macomb County has suggested that this might be a way to alleviate some of the ambiguity about whether or not a car is turning left or going straight,” Pike said.

Beyond Cavalier Drive, the roads would remerge. The process would require restriping the road and signal adjustments, Pike said. The whole process, when it is to occur, would take around a day to complete.

The cost to readjust the signals is $98,968.42.

“This cost would come out of the signal maintenance line item within the streets budget,” items attached to the agenda indicated.

The restriping would cost $20,699.50.

No exact date is set, but Pike expects it to be done in this fiscal year, before it ends on June 30.

There are currently barricades in the area, but Councilwoman Candice Rusie said it is hard to see while turning left off of Cavalier and asked that it be adjusted.

Caron thanked the county and residents who brought the solutions to the city.

“Councilman Rubello and I, you know, we expressed concerns with how we could just change the directional lighting, and they had safety concerns with what we were proposing, and they came back with this plan,” Caron said.

He also said having a left-hand turn lane will be great for the area.

Rubello said a majority of people on council and with the city staff agreed that the situation was “hazardous,” stating there had been a lot of near misses.

“I’m glad we’re finally able to address the problem and hopefully it helps somebody out and I think it will be good,” Rubello said.

Several council members expressed concerns about properly alerting residents to the new changes to avoid confusion at the intersection.