There is a stretch of Westerville Road that went through months of closures, detours, and construction equipment before a roundabout appeared and things calmed down. If you live near it, you know. If you were buying or selling near it during that window, you also know how much orange barrels can complicate a showing.
This is a breakdown of what actually happened on Westerville Road, what the finished projects look like, how buyers read infrastructure construction when they're touring a neighborhood, and what the next phase of improvements means for the corridor.
What Was Built at Westerville Road and Westerville Woods Drive
Columbus and ODOT completed a single-lane roundabout at the intersection of Westerville Road (SR-3) and Westerville Woods Drive/Kilbourne Run Sports Park. The project ran through a 60-day closure period and involved more than just dropping a circle in the road.
The full scope included:
- Realignment of the Kilbourne Run Sports Park entrance
- New sidewalks and a shared-use path along this stretch of SR-3
- Curb and gutter, curb ramps, and stormwater upgrades
- New street lighting on the corridor
That is a substantial infrastructure investment in one intersection. The construction displaced through-traffic onto neighborhood side streets during the closure, which caused friction. Residents near Kilbourne Run dealt with increased cut-through volume, confusion about "local traffic only" detour signage, and the general mess of an active road project. The city installed barricades in adjacent neighborhoods to manage the speeding problem that came with rerouted traffic.
Once the roundabout opened, the feedback from the corridor shifted. Left turns that were previously stressful on a fast, busy arterial became more manageable. The roundabout slows the approach speed, removes the conflict point of a traditional signaled intersection, and gives drivers on the side streets a cleaner gap to enter the flow.
The Morse Road Intersection Improvement
Separately, ODOT is advancing work at SR-3 and Morse Road. That project widens lanes at the intersection and adds a dedicated right-turn lane. The goal is reduced congestion and lower crash risk at one of the busier cross-points on the corridor.
Morse Road intersecting with Westerville Road matters because it is one of the primary east-west connections in the area. Backups at that intersection affect commute times for a wide band of drivers. A dedicated right-turn lane is a targeted fix for the right-turn-on-red stacking that slows things down during peak hours.
These two projects are not isolated. They are part of a longer-term pattern of corridor investment on SR-3 that has been building for years.
What Buyers Actually Think When They See Construction
I show homes near active construction regularly. Here is what I have observed.
Most buyers are not spooked by roundabouts or road improvements. They are spooked by permanent problems: a busy arterial with no traffic management, an intersection with a bad safety record, a neighborhood with no sidewalk connectivity. Construction is a temporary condition. The finished product is what matters to a buyer's long-term experience of getting in and out of the house every day.
A new roundabout, shared-use path, updated lighting, and safer intersection geometry signal that the city and state are actively investing in the corridor. For a buyer trying to read a neighborhood's trajectory, that is a positive signal. Infrastructure investment does not happen on corridors that jurisdictions have written off.
The trickier conversation happens during active construction. When a buyer tours a home and the route from the freeway runs through a detour with dirt on the road and temporary signage everywhere, the experience of the neighborhood takes a hit. That is a showing problem, not a value problem, but it affects how buyers feel in the moment. I tell clients to come back and drive the route on a normal Tuesday morning without me to get a real read on what the commute actually feels like post-construction.
What the Finished Product Means on a Daily Basis
Roundabouts perform better than traditional signaled intersections on several fronts that translate into a real daily experience difference:
Speed management. The geometry forces deceleration. Drivers approaching a roundabout cannot run a stale yellow at 45 mph. The approach speed coming off a fast stretch of SR-3 drops before the intersection, which changes the character of the corridor.
Throughput. A properly sized single-lane roundabout moves more vehicles per hour than a comparable stop-controlled or even signaled intersection under normal traffic loads. For a morning commute, that means less waiting.
Pedestrian and cyclist crossings. The sidewalk and shared-use path addition that came with the Kilbourne Run roundabout improved pedestrian connectivity along that stretch. Crossings at roundabouts use splitter islands to separate pedestrian movements, which makes the crossing more predictable than a traditional crosswalk at a high-speed approach.
Safety record. ODOT converts intersections to roundabouts specifically to reduce crash severity. The conflict points in a roundabout involve side-swiping angles rather than right-angle impacts, which substantially reduces injury crashes. That is not a minor point on a corridor that has historically had speed-related incidents.
How This Plays in a Listing
If you are selling a home near Westerville Road and the roundabout just opened, or one is in progress, here is how I approach it in a listing.
The fact pattern is favorable: city and state investment, improved safety geometry, pedestrian infrastructure, lighting upgrades. I lead with the finished product and the investment story. I do not bury the construction period or pretend it did not happen, but the context is that the construction produced something better, not that the corridor has problems.
If the construction is still active when we list, the strategy shifts slightly. We stage the showing route to approach from the best available angle, note in the remarks that the intersection improvement is underway with a projected completion, and price with awareness that active construction affects buyer perception in the short term. Once the barrels come down, we reassess.
What to Watch Next on the Corridor
The Morse Road intersection improvement is the current active project beyond the Kilbourne Run roundabout. Watch for lane widening and the dedicated right-turn addition at that intersection.
Beyond those two projects, the broader SR-3 corridor between Morse Road and the I-270 interchange has been the subject of longer-range capacity discussions. Any further widening, median work, or intersection upgrades in that stretch will continue to shape how buyers experience commuting from the neighborhoods west of Westerville Road.
If you own property on or near Westerville Road, it is worth pulling the ODOT project database periodically to see what is in preliminary design or environmental review. Projects that are years out still affect buyer perception once word gets out, and they factor into how I advise sellers on timing.
The Bottom Line
Roundabouts get a bad reputation during the construction phase and a better reputation once they are open. The Kilbourne Run project is a real improvement to that intersection. The Morse Road work will be as well.
For buyers: a corridor with active investment in safety and connectivity infrastructure is a corridor worth paying attention to. The disruption during construction is real, but it is temporary. What remains is a better-functioning intersection on your daily commute.
For sellers near Westerville Road: the finished product tells a better story than the construction process did. If you are thinking about timing a sale, I can give you a specific read on how the project status affects showings and buyer perception for your address.
If you want a custom look at what these projects mean for a specific street or subdivision near Westerville Road, reach out directly. I can walk you through the project timeline, the as-built improvements, and what comparable sales look like in the corridor during and after construction.
Adam Geuy, Realtor - NextHome Experience | ABR, PSA, SRS | 937.239.2919 | calendly.com/adam-geuy