Delaware County leaders used their State of the County address on Monday to roll out a packed lineup of multi-million-dollar road projects, from new roundabouts to shared-use paths, while warning that a statewide push to abolish property taxes could blow a massive hole in local budgets. Officials said the proposed constitutional amendment could strip about $50.3 million from county agencies, threatening both the new infrastructure plans and routine operations that residents tend to notice only when they stop working.
The remarks came during the county’s ninth annual State of the County address, where commissioners highlighted recent budget decisions and economic development wins, then pivoted to traffic relief. According to The Columbus Dispatch, officials framed the upcoming construction as a safety and congestion fix for fast-growing corridors rather than just another season of orange barrels.
Major Projects And Expected Closures
The county’s 2026 Road Construction Guide outlines more than a dozen big-ticket jobs, including County Line Road roundabouts and upgrades at State Route 3 and Lewis Center Road. The guide shows that County Line Road is set to get two single-lane roundabouts this summer, backed by roughly $5 million in state economic development funding. The State Route 3 and Lewis Center Road project will add turn lanes and a signal with about $4 million coming from county and ODOT funding.
Other projects listed in the guide include a single-lane roundabout at Peachblow and Piatt and a new roundabout at Big Walnut Road and Tussic Street. Many intersections are scheduled for short, sequenced closures so crews can move from one site to the next with limited overlap. These locations, timelines and detours are laid out in the Delaware County Engineer’s 2026 Road Construction Guide.
Some of the work has already moved from planning to execution. County records show that the Peachblow and Piatt roundabout contract was awarded in February to Shelly Company for about $2.07 million. The commissioners’ minutes and contract paperwork record both the award and the price, reflecting what county officials describe as a multi-year push to convert higher-speed, higher-crash intersections into slower, more controlled roundabouts. The county’s official meeting journal contains the detailed contract documents.
What County Leaders Say About The Tax Amendment
County officials used the address to sound the alarm about a citizen-led effort to abolish property taxes statewide, arguing that the local fallout would be immediate and severe. They estimate that county agencies alone would face a roughly $50.3 million annual shortfall if the amendment passes, according to reporting on the address by The Columbus Dispatch. Separately, the county auditor has described more modest property tax changes that lawmakers enacted earlier this year, including inflation-related credits and adjustments to owner-occupancy and nonbusiness credits, and has emphasized that those tweaks are distinct from the drive to abolish property taxes outright, according to a January auditor’s statement.
At the state level, organizers behind the ballot push say they have already collected hundreds of thousands of signatures and are racing a July filing deadline to qualify the measure, Signal Akron reports. Opponents, organized as Ohioans to Protect Public Services, counter that wiping out property taxes would punch roughly a $20 billion hole in local funding across Ohio and force deep cuts to schools, fire and EMS agencies, libraries and local roads, according to the coalition’s own materials.
For now, county officials say the transportation projects are funded under the current budget and existing grants, and will move forward unless broader revenue streams change. Residents, they warn, should still brace for a summer of rolling closures and detours. For up-to-date construction schedules, maps and contact information, the Delaware County Engineer’s guide and the county commissioners’ session records list project timelines, contractors and other details that might make navigating the roundabout boom a little less confusing.
