Upper Arlington seeks grant for major traffic project at Five Points intersection

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio ( WCMH ) — A resolution that could lead to a major traffic overhaul involving one of Upper Arlington’s busiest intersections was passed at Monday’s City Council meeting.

Government leaders voted to move forward with a Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission grant application that could significantly change the Five Points intersection, which includes Tremont Road, Northwest Boulevard and Fishinger Road.

In materials prepared for the meeting, the city provided a history of the junction noting that it “evolved in the 1940s when Northwest Boulevard was extended north from Ridgeview Road.” Over time, area development increased traffic prompting several studies confirming congestion issues, according to the city. One of the evaluations considered “the feasibility of a roundabout as a potential solution.”

The traffic engineering firm behind the study described the intersection on its website as “one of the City of Upper Arlington’s busiest and most confusing due to the awkward approach angle of Northwest Boulevard, commercial drive access issues, and signal timing.” After its review, the company proposed possible multi-lane roundabout layouts and provided the city with a summary of the findings.

During the meeting, concerned resident Jordan Fromm voiced support for the traffic study portion of the proposal but cautioned the city about how drivers could react to a roundabout at the intersection.

“The unintended consequence of a redesign of that intersection is to potentially make it so much more, undesirable to participate in that people will opt to use other streets like Pemberton Drive, Inverness Way, Birchcrest to avoid that intersection entirely, to choose a different route,” said Fromm . “And so I stress that as we go through this process as a city that we deeply consider the negative externalities of a new roadway design.”

Assistant City Manager Jackie Thiel discussed earlier in the conversation the steps the city would take before any changes are made.

“So we have to do our due diligence, go through that, figure out what this, if it’s going to be a roundabout, what it would look like,” said Thiel. “And then do public outreach and engagement through all of that. So we’re just kind of kicking this off for applying for funding early because it’s every two years that you can apply, and it’s usually four to six years out where you would get the funding.”

Later, Thiel went into more detail when asked about the disruption changes would have on the community center set to open in 2025.

“We wouldn’t anticipate this going to construction until most likely 2029 or beyond, just the way state funding is looking, if we’re successful getting funding,” said Thiel. “So we would be open for quite a few years before this would be an impact.”

The project may take a little bit longer so that we can keep part of the intersection open during all construction, but that’ll be another big piece of public engagement of when to expect any road closures or delays along those will be, and when we’ll resume normal activity.”

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