Round and round and round they go, and when it will stop, nobody knows.
As several roundabouts opened recently in central Ohio, work on others is underway. And plans for more are moving ahead as some central Ohio governments are going all in to replace busy intersections — some controlled by stop signs and even traffic signals — with roundabouts.
Dublin and Hilliard are among the area communities that have embraced the ability of roundabouts to slow things down to improve safety while keeping traffic moving. Dublin opened its 30th roundabout to traffic on Aug. 19 at Avery, Rings and Cara roads, though infrastructure and other work there continue with completion expected in October.
The city of Hilliard has 19 existing roundabouts — the first opened in 2006 at the intersection of Hayden Run Road and Britton Parkway — and there are two more in the design stage and one in the program stage as of Sept. 23, according to a map on the city’s website.
Nationwide, there are more than 11,000 roundabouts in the U.S., according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Roundabouts are so popular they even have their own designated celebratory week each year in September.
A 15-county region in central Ohio had more than 170 roundabouts with 49 in the process of being built as of early 2025, according to the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.
New Albany area becoming a hot spot for roundabout projects
A new roundabout at Market Street and Reynoldsburg-New Albany Road (State Route 605) in New Albany opened to traffic the weekend of Aug. 16 in time for back-to-school, though significant work remained to be completed on pedestrian crossings, the roundabout circle’s pavers, multi-use paths and more as of Sept. 30.
The roundabout’s opening was welcome news to residents along Straits Link, Straits Lane and Ackerly Farm Road, roads drivers used as alternatives during roundabout construction. New Albany police had stationed an officer and a speed warning device to keep increased “local traffic” passing through the area at the 25 mph speed limit while motorists used the route to get around the roundabout road closure.
The Market Street roundabout is the fourth on Reynoldsburg-New Albany Road in about a four-mile stretch between Havens Road in Jefferson Township and New Albany’s village center, with other roundabouts constructed over the last several years at Havens, Clark State, and Morse roads.
The new roundabout is also part of a bigger project still underway: New Albany’s Market Street Extension from Reynoldsburg-New Albany Road to meet Third Street at East Dublin Granville Road/Granville Street. The city has called the project “an investment to ease congestion, improve safety, and prepare for New Albany’s future growth.”
Construction began earlier this month on another roundabout in New Albany at Bevelhymer Road and East Walnut Street that the city said is also connected to future growth and improvements in the city. The project will include utility and infrastructure work and is expected to improve the flow of increasing traffic from Bevelhymer Park athletic fields, the ongoing expansion of the New Albany International Business Park, and a planned community fieldhouse to the north on Bevelhymer. Work on that roundabout is expected to keep the intersection closed for about three months and be “substantially complete” by Dec. 1, the city says.
A temporary road has been installed so that eastbound traffic on East Walnut from SR 605 can get to northbound Bevelhymer Road for access to and from Bevelhymer Park. Franklin County contributing a portion of the cost for the project.
Other key elements of that roundabout project include new leisure trail connections along Bevelhymer and Walnut for cyclists and pedestrians, installation of Americans with Disabilities Act pedestrian ramps at the intersection and widening of Bevelhymer from the Public Service complex to Millbrook Farm Drive.
Earlier this month, Franklin County Commissioners approved a contract for nearly $4 million with Strawser Paving Co. of Columbus to build another roundabout on New Albany-Condit Road (State Route 605) to connect with the two split intersections with Walnut Street.
That is about $1 million less than the construction estimate provided to The Dispatch for the project, which will be funded from the county engineer’s auto and gas tax fund. The county engineer’s office said $5 million in state funding for road improvements in the Intel feeder area has been secured for the project along with $289,500 from the Ohio Public Works Commission.
The roundabout will have two lanes north and south on New Albany-Condit Road and one lane each for Walnut Street.
Construction of the roundabout is expected to begin in spring 2026 and will result in a full closure of New Albany-Condit Road and the ends of the two separate sections of Walnut Street for at least 90 days, weather permitting. About 12,500 vehicles travel through there each day, the county engineer’s office reports.
Jefferson Township in line for more roundabouts
Franklin County is planning to add two new roundabouts in Jefferson Township over the next two years.
A single-lane roundabout with turn lanes is planned by the county to replace a busy, traffic light-controlled intersection with turn lanes at North Waggoner and Havens Corners roads in the township.
According to information provided by the county engineer’s office, the project would cost about $4 million and begin in March 2026. The Ohio Department of Transportation is allocating about $3.5 million toward the cost from its Highway Safety Improvement Program funds.
Morning traffic backs up on northbound North Waggoner and westbound Havens Corners. Afternoon commute traffic backs up on southbound Waggoner and eastbound Havens Corners, sometimes for a half-mile or more. The county engineer’s office reports approximately 23,000 vehicles per day use that intersection.
Further north on North Waggoner, where it ends at a stop sign at a T-intersection with Clark State Road, the county plans to build another roundabout in the summer or fall of 2027.
The estimated construction cost is $4.1 million, with $2.5 million received from the County Engineers of Ohio, ODOT Highway Safety Improvement Fund, Jefferson Township and developer contributions.
The roundabout is intended to improve traffic flow, particularly for motorists backed up in the mornings and afternoons trying to turn left to go west or east on Clark State. A flashing sign and roadway markings were added on North Waggoner on the approach to that intersection to try to prevent rear-end collisions due to stopped traffic.
A 2023 safety study found there were 20 total crashes, seven involving injuries, from 2019-2022 at the intersection, the county engineer’s office said.
The intersection would be closed for 90 days during the work, which will include extending a bridge on Clark State Road just west of North Waggoner that carries the roadway over Swisher Creek, a retaining wall, shared-use path and sidewalk.
Even Columbus is turning more toward roundabouts. A portion of Westerville Road in northeast Columbus closed starting Sept. 15 for roundabout construction at the entry of Kilbourne Run Sports Park and Westerville Woods Drive.
The area between Valley Park Avenue and Westerville Woods Drive will be closed into December, according to the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department.
Delaware County to more than double its roundabouts in 5 years
In Delaware County, there were 24 roundabouts as of March of this year. That figure is planned to increase to 34 in the next two years and to 50 roundabouts by the end of 2030. Many of those will be in the southern part of the county where there has been tremendous residential growth as well as in roads expected to experience increased traffic from the Intel facility.
Among those newly built or planned into 2027:
● A new peanut-shaped roundabout constructed at Worthington and Lewis Center Road, built with $3 million in federal funds and $300,000 in county road and bridge funds.
● A new single-lane roundabout at Big Walnut Road and Tussic Street along with shared-use and sidewalk installation built with $3.5 million in county road and bridge funds.
● Two new single-lane roundabouts on County Line Road to be built between this fall and summer 2026 with $9 million in state economic development funds to handle increased commuiter traffic to the Intel area in Licking County. These include a circular roundabout at Fancher Road and a peanut-shaped roundabout at Center Village and Duncan Plains.
● Single-lane roundabouts to built at three intersections along Cheshire Road by summer 2027 with $1.8 million in county road and bridge funds. They include a peanut-shaped roundabout at Africa Road, a circular roundabout at Golf Course Road that will also tie Millstone Drive on its east side, and a peanut-shaped roundabout at South Galena/Rome Corners at a five-legged intersection.
● A single-lane roundabout is planned next summer at the Rome Corners and Dustin Road intersection plus drainage improvements nearby on Dustin Road using $2 million in county road and bridge funds.
● A single-lane roundabout planned next summer at the Peachblow and Piatt Road intersection using $1.8 million in county road and bridge funds.
● A single-lane roundabout planned next summer at Hyatt and Section Line Road intersection using $2 million in county road and bridge funds.
Why are so many governments turning to roundabouts?
Roundabouts are a proven safety measure shown to reduce fatal and injury crashes by 82% on average, according to the FHWA. Roundabouts reduce the number of “conflict points” for an accident to occur compared with a four-way stop or a traffic light and they slow down vehicle speeds to 15 mph to 25 mph on average, the agency says. That makes it especially safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The FHWA also contends roundabouts reduce traffic delays by 62-74%.
While single-lane roundabouts have worked well, the two-lane traffic circles have turned out to be more confusing for some motorists.
The city of Hilliard has been active with the Ohio Department of Transportation in producing #RoundaboutRules videos to explain how motorists should drive multi-lane roundabouts. The city even has some videos of a female superhero called “Professor Roundabout” who battles “Captain Chaos” over his reckless driving at roundabouts.
ODOT analyzed crash data from 76 intersections that had been converted to roundabouts. The data showed that single lane roundabouts decreased injury crashes by 69% while multi-lane roundabouts resulted in a much smaller 25% decline.
Federal, state and county officials also maintain roundabouts can cost less than signals over time because they do not require signal equipment installation, power, and maintenance.
However, that is not always the case.
Over the past few years, Hilliard reports it has had to spend money on modifications at several roundabouts to reduce the frequency of fender-bender crashes and reduce vehicle speeds. In many cases, this has involved reducing the number of through lanes on two-lane roundabouts to a single lane with the another lane becoming a right-turn-only lane. Work also has involved modifying lane markings to simplify lane assignments and installing raised crosswalks.
In the future, Hilliard said it will focus on building more roundabouts with single-lane entries and exits because they are simpler for drivers to navigate and result in fewer crashes than roundabouts with two-lane entries and exit points around the circle.
Dublin has had to make modifications to existing roundabouts such as the Bridge Street/State Route 161 interchange to reduce crashes.
On Sept. 8, Franklin County had to temporarily close the roundabout at Reynoldsburg-New Albany and Morse roads for five days to redesign and remark the intersection. Impatient motorists were previously using the right lanes to go around the traffic in the left lanes and then quickly merging left in front of other vehicles when the road resumed one lane in each direction.
The changes mean northbound and southbound Reynoldsburg-New Albany Road have only one lane going into the roundabout now instead of the previous two. Motorists in the right-hand lanes must now turn right. The roundabout was also repaved as part of a repaving of Morse Road from the roundabout west to the area of Harrison Pond Drive.
Similar problems exist with the two-lane roundabout at the Reynoldsburg-New Albany and Clark State roads, where some motorists also attempt to get around other motorists in the short span before RNA returns to one lane again.
In July, Gov. Mike DeWine announced an additional $137 million for 55 traffic safety projects across the state — including installing 25 roundabouts.
“Safety is the driving force behind every decision we make, and the results are clear, roundabouts are very effective at reducing crashes and saving lives,” Ohio Department of Transportation Director Pamela Boratyn said in a prepared release. “Our goal is to continue to support our local, county, and state partners by providing funding for roundabouts.”
Jim Wilhelm is an assistant metro editor at The Dispatch. He can be reached at jwilhlem@dispach.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New roundabouts open, construction underway on others, more planned in central Ohio.
Reporting by Jim Wilhelm, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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