Upper Arlington is inching closer to a decision on how to fix the Kingsdale Five Points intersection, the tangled meeting point of Fishinger Road, Tremont Road and Northwest Boulevard that has racked up nearly 50 vehicle crashes over the past five years. City engineer Aaron Scott laid out that crash history in a recent WBNS-10TV broadcast, noting that while most of those wrecks didn't result in injuries, rising traffic through the corridor raises the odds of a more serious collision down the road.
American Structurepoint, the firm Upper Arlington hired in 2025 to develop intersection options, presented refined concepts for the junction to city council on September 14, according to NBC4 WCMH-TV. The firm's latest presentation included updated traffic analysis and a roughly two-and-a-half-minute simulation of a proposed circular roundabout, and the analysis was aimed at eliminating the stacked traffic queues that build up during peak commuter hours, per the City of Upper Arlington. No design has been chosen yet, and the city says it plans additional study and refinement before moving into detailed design.
A Decade in the Making
Five Points is the last of the city's three major arterial roadways to get an overhaul. Upper Arlington first studied potential changes to the intersection back in 2016, revisited the issue in 2024, and then brought on American Structurepoint the following year to develop formal options, the station's report notes. The city has systematically upgraded Fishinger Road, Tremont Road and Northwest Boulevard since 2015, and this summer it launched a full-depth reconstruction of Northwest Boulevard between Wilshire Drive and Five Points — the final arterial corridor upgrade feeding into the junction, according to the City of Upper Arlington.
Carpenter Marty Transportation analyzed the intersection, evaluating traffic counts and alternative geometry across all three corridors. The multi-year planning process has now produced three formal concepts under consideration: an expanded signalized intersection, a circular roundabout and a noncircular roundabout.
What the Numbers Show
American Structurepoint's modeling found that both roundabout concepts outperformed the signalized option on safety and mobility, projecting A or B levels of service on all three corridors through 2048. The signalized alternative, by contrast, was projected to fall to D ratings on Fishinger, Tremont and Northwest Boulevard by that same year, per the outlet's report. Construction cost estimates ranged from about $4.50 million for the signalized intersection to $4.58 million for the noncircular roundabout, though those figures exclude right-of-way and utility costs — which are projected to run considerably higher for either roundabout option than for the signalized design.
Statewide data lends support to the roundabout push. An Ohio Department of Transportation safety study released in 2025 found that converting standard intersections to single-lane roundabouts cut injury crashes by 69% across 76 converted intersections statewide, while multi-lane roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 25%, according to Ideastream Public Media. Federal Highway Administration research cited by the Ohio Department of Transportation goes further, showing roundabouts can reduce fatal and severe injury collisions by up to 80% compared to traditional signals by slowing travel speeds and eliminating right-angle impact points.
Public Opinion Leans Circular
Public feedback has consistently favored a roundabout. A spring 2026 city survey drew 1,475 responses, with 50% of respondents saying they navigate Five Points daily and 41% weekly. Among all respondents, 55.29% favored a roundabout over a signalized layout, with 37.02% preferring the circular design and 18.24% preferring the noncircular option, according to the City of Upper Arlington. Supporters cited smoother traffic flow and shorter waits, while a smaller share of respondents selected the signalized alternative outright, per the same survey.
Not everyone is sold. Opponents of the roundabout concepts raised concerns about pedestrian and bicycle safety, emergency vehicle access, impacts on nearby businesses and the potential for driver error, the station's report notes. The circular roundabout concept under review includes a large center island, multilane approaches and pedestrian crossings set back from the circle itself.
Traffic Pressure Keeps Building
The five-story, $85 million Bob Crane Community Center opened in April 2025. Kingsdale Shopping Center began strict parking enforcement and towing in February 2026 to keep non-customers from filling its lots, as Hoodline previously reported.
Timing remains a moving target. The city currently plans to complete detailed design in 2027 and begin construction in 2028, a target city engineer Gary Wilfong confirmed remains current, per the outlet's report. But construction could slip a year, into 2029, because of property acquisitions, utility relocations and the need to coordinate with Tremont Elementary School, according to the city engineer. The city is coordinating with Tremont Elementary School on potential plans and projects as construction planning proceeds.
Upper Arlington plans to hold another round of community outreach this fall before any final design decision is made. For now, the city says it will continue refining the concepts as engineers weigh the roundabout's safety advantages against its higher right-of-way costs and the logistical challenge of building next to an elementary school.
