Northwest Boulevard Finishes This Fall. Five Points Is Still Waiting for a Decision.

"We have construction identified for 2028. That's our current schedule," Upper Arlington city engineer Gary Wilfong told City Council on September 14. Then he added the caveat: "To be up front, that schedule could get bumped a year when you take all those into consideration."

Wilfong was talking about the Kingsdale Five Points intersection, where Fishinger Road, Tremont Road and Northwest Boulevard meet. His caveat matters most to people who drive through it every day. Starting this week, the city is rebuilding the last stretch of road that leads into Five Points. Once that work is done, the intersection itself is the only piece left, and it has the least settled timeline of anything in the project.

The last approach closes, one section at a time

The current Northwest Boulevard project is Phase 3 of a rebuild that started in 2020 and continued in 2021. It runs from Wilshire Drive north to Fishinger Road and Five Points. The city's capital project tracker lists Phase 3 at $2.6 million and estimates completion in fall 2026. The work covers full-depth pavement replacement, new curb and gutter, new driveway aprons, and storm sewer improvements.

Curb and apron work wrapped up on the east side and moved to the west side by mid-September. Full-depth road replacement starts the week of October 5. Each section closes completely while crews work on it, moving north to south, according to the city's September 17 notice:

1. South of Five Points to Zollinger Road, about 14 days. The Zollinger intersection stays open for most of this stretch and closes only briefly for final paving.
2. South of Zollinger Road to Ridgeview Road, about 9 days.
3. South of Ridgeview Road to Wilshire Drive, about 11 days.

That adds up to about 34 days of rolling closures, which fits the city's estimate that work will run "through October and into November." Through traffic will be detoured to Kenny Road, and each work zone will have its own local detour. The city calls the schedule tentative and says weather and construction conditions could change it. If you live on the boulevard, expect to lose driveway access for about a week while crews work in front of your home, and plan to park on a nearby street during that time. The contractor will coordinate advance notice with residents and businesses along the corridor. The Wendy's at 3040 Northwest Blvd. is one of the businesses on that stretch.

The city's own Five Points update makes the connection to the intersection directly. It says the major roads leading into Five Points have been significantly improved, with the work "concluding this fall with the final phase of work on Northwest Boulevard," while "the intersection itself has struggled to accommodate traffic levels efficiently and safely."

What September actually decided

The headlines on the September 14 presentation didn't agree. On September 17, the Columbus Dispatch ran the headline "Upper Arlington picks solution for troubled Five Points intersection" and said the intersection is "poised to trade its traffic lights for a roundabout." NBC4 had covered the same meeting a day earlier and reported that the city "has not selected a preferred design," that the concepts would get more study, and that "another round of community outreach is expected this fall."

The council records support the more cautious version. The September 14 agenda listed Five Points under Reports/Presentations, with consultant American Structurepoint's slides attached, and no resolution or ordinance on the agenda dealt with Five Points. As of early October, the city has not announced a date, format or survey link for the fall outreach round.

The roundabout is clearly the leading direction. In outreach earlier in 2026, about 120 residents came to a public meeting and 1,475 completed a follow-up survey. The city said the feedback favored a roundabout, provided the final design addressed pedestrian and bicycle safety, effects on nearby businesses, and emergency vehicle access. Here is how the three concepts compare, using the survey results and the September presentation:

Together, the two roundabout options got 55.26% of survey responses. The circular concept shown in September has a large center island, multilane approaches, and pedestrian crossings set back from the circle. Presenters also played an animation of about two and a half minutes simulating evening rush hour. The technical slide lists a 16-foot lane around the center circle, a 12-foot truck apron, 16-foot entries and exits, and approach lanes of 10 to 12 feet. The materials reviewed don't settle the final number of lanes or how bicycles will be handled.

Construction costs are close. Land and utilities aren't.

All three options cost about the same to build, and that makes it easy to miss where the costs actually differ. When the concepts were first presented, 10TV reported that City Council had set aside about $5.5 million for the intersection. In the September presentation, the circular roundabout's construction cost was $4.548 million, but the total project figure came to $6,342,600 once right-of-way and utility costs were added. NBC4 reported that right-of-way and utility costs "were projected to be considerably higher for either roundabout than for the signalized design."

The same items that raise the cost also explain Wilfong's caveat about timing. He named property acquisition, utility relocation, and coordination with Tremont Elementary School on its own plans as the reasons construction could be pushed back a year from 2028. A roundabout needs more land than a signal, and acquiring land is the slowest part of a project like this. The design residents preferred is also the one most likely to take longer.

The intersection has been under discussion for a long time. The city first studied changes in 2016, came back to the issue in 2024, and hired American Structurepoint as work on the three approach roads was nearing completion. According to the city, 10,000 to 12,000 cars use the intersection each day.

Who is at the corners

The September concept map labels the businesses around the intersection: getGo, OhioHealth, PNC, US Union Savings Bank, Huntington, ALDI, The Kingston, CVS and Chase. Northwest EyeCare Professionals is nearby at 3360 Tremont Road. That's why the survey's condition about business impact carries weight. Dr. Doug Bosner, who co-owns a medical practice next to the intersection, told 10TV: "I don't want people to be hesitant to come because I'm abutting to a roundabout that someone doesn't want to go through. But if I was just a member of the community, I think roundabouts are great." The September materials don't yet show how customer access to these businesses would work.

The Kingsdale side of Tremont Road is still adding destinations. The Arlington Grille is planned for 3150 Tremont Road, in the former Houlihan's. NBC4 described it in June as a 5,500-square-foot restaurant seating 240, with indoor dining, a covered patio and a bar. A WhatNow report on August 18 said the operator was preparing to open "this fall," with no date announced yet. Next door, the Bob Crane Community Center at 3200 Tremont Road hosts the city's Navratri & Diwali Celebration on Saturday, November 14, from 6 to 10 p.m., with dancing, arts activities, hors d'oeuvres and desserts. If the Northwest Boulevard work runs into November, that evening could fall near the end of the closures, depending on the weather.

Across the corridor, the Upper Arlington Farmers Market runs Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. at 2151 Dorset Road, beside Tremont Center, through October 21. Its last three Wednesdays overlap the first Northwest Boulevard closure, from Five Points south to Zollinger. Traffic coming down Tremont Road from Five Points shouldn't be affected.

What comes next

Here's what's settled as of early October 2026. The Northwest Boulevard closures start this week and are scheduled to run into November. The roundabout is the city's leading concept, and its total estimate in the September presentation was just over $6.3 million. Detailed design is targeted for 2027 and construction for 2028. The city engineer has said publicly that the construction date could be pushed back a year. Here's what's still open: the final design choice, the number of lanes, the bicycle treatment, the plan for business access, and the date of the fall outreach round. Watch the Five Points Intersection Improvements page on the city's website for that outreach date. That round is the next chance for residents to weigh in before detailed design starts.

At Cece Miller, we follow projects like Five Points because a road that takes two or three years to rebuild can change how a nearby home shows and sells. If you own near Kingsdale, Tremont Road or Northwest Boulevard and want to understand how this timeline could affect your plans, we'd welcome the chance to talk it through. Request a Private Market Consultation.