In Warren, between Hayes Avenue and Groesbeck Highway, Stephens Road runs through residential areas with several neighborhood businesses. Warren, along with Center Line, Eastpointe and St. Clair Shores, are looking to make streetscape and pedestrian-focused improvements along the road.
By: Brian Wells | C&G Newspapers | Published March 6, 2026
MACOMB COUNTY — Four Macomb County communities are seeking feedback from residents on how to improve greenway space along a road connecting the west and east sides of the county.
The project began after representatives from the connected cities — Warren, Eastpointe, St. Clair Shores and Center Line — began having discussions about how to improve the corridor along Stephens Road, between Van Dyke and Little Mack avenues, said Hunter Manikas, economic development technician for Warren.
“During our initial meetings, we were just kind of thinking higher-end stuff, like connectivity and how nice it would be to be able to have a continuous route from Van Dyke in Warren all the way to Lake St. Clair, and that’s kind of what brought our four communities together,” he said.
The cities then received a $40,000 grant from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, which allowed the cities to begin collaborating on ways to prioritize streetscapes and pedestrian-focused placemaking planning by promoting the greenway as a preferred option to travel between communities. It also connects the region’s Iron Belle Trail to Lake St. Clair.
Dennis Champine, city manager for Center Line, said there wasn’t anything connecting people from the west side of Macomb County to the east side.
“So, we thought, gosh, there’s this roadway that is diverse in regards to the property uses that could ultimately become a pathway to the lake and from the east back to the west,” he said.
To help steer the direction of the project, the four cities are hosting an online survey to get feedback from residents.
“‘Greenway’ doesn’t have a set definition. It’s a pretty malleable term, and we’re going to shape it to essentially whatever the people tell us that they want,” Champine said.
As of March 4, Manikas said they had close to 500 responses to the survey.
“I haven’t gone through each of them individually or anything, but it’s mostly pretty positive. People are pretty excited about recreation, pedestrian safety, all that kind of stuff,” he said.
Some of the negative feedback they’ve received, he said, is more concerned about the cost associated with the project.
“We’re going to be taking that into account and trying to leverage as many outside resources as we can to move forward with the next phases of the project,” he said.
Champine added that the project isn’t being funded by any of the communities involved in it.
“That means we just have to try and secure some grant money,” he said.
At this point, Manikas said, the project is still in the planning stages.
Manikas said the next step will be to analyze the results once the survey has been closed. From there, the cities will work to hold a public meeting to release the results. The meeting will likely happen towards the end of April, he said.
“From there, we’ll start drafting the plan and really getting something into place,” he said.
Ian McCain, economic development manager for Eastpointe, said there is already no shortage of opportunities on Stephens Road to exercise, enjoy nature, spend time with family and friends, or travel to work or school.
He encouraged anyone who travels along the road to take the survey.
The survey, which takes about five to seven minutes to complete, can be found online at cityofwarren.org/stephens-road-greenway-community-survey. He said the survey will remain open until at least March 15, but that could change based on how many responses are received.