Plans by The 5ive 9ine call for color-coded flags to be placed in sections of businesses on M-59, to help patrons and to add to the area¹s aesthetics.

Steve Cassin, vice president of The 5ive 9ine Business Association, and the Macomb County planning and economic development director, began working on creating the group six months ago along with Richard Ives, the association’s president and Trinity Land Development vice president. The idea was to have a group whose purpose is to promote economic development in the county.

“We have a jewel here in Macomb County,” Cassin said. “That jewel is M-59.”

The goals of The 5ive 9ine include promoting the area through advertising and marketing; producing a dedicated, user-friendly Web site to unify all the businesses along M-59; enhancing the aesthetics of M-59 through landscaping and creating a signage system; and improving traffic flow along the thoroughfare.

With a comprehensive Web site of all the businesses on M-59, consumers would be able to search for stores that carry a particular type of item, receive maps of where the stores are located and possibly obtain special coupons. Currently, members of the 5ive 9ine are determining the best way to offer memberships for businesses, and work on the Web site is in progress.

Members of the 5ive 9ine hope the group will be able to ease complaints of those who drive through the hullabaloo of M-59. Traffic adjustments are being considered that would open up M-59 east of Romeo Plank Road by making the right shoulder into a driving lane and adding turning lanes where needed.

Greg Johnson, Michigan Department of Transportation region engineer and 5ive 9ine member, said he hopes to receive grants from a federally funded economic development program to make the road changes.

“M-59 is an important route in the MDOT trunkline system,” Johnson said. “It handles more vehicles than most freeways outside a metro area.”

Before any work can be done, studies will be conducted to determine the types of accidents that occur on M-59 and what impact increased traffic would have.

“We want to make sure we’re not going to do something that’s going to cause more crashes and have people avoid the area because they think it’s unsafe,” Johnson said.

Designs have already been made for color-coded flags that would signify different sections of businesses on M-59. Additional landscaping features could include reducing the number of driveways exiting onto M-59, along with incorporating other aesthetic features along the roadway.

Businesses that are interested in the 5ive 9ine can visit www.thefivenine.com