The Sunbury Road improvements project between County Line/Smothers and Maxtown is one of those infrastructure stories that takes years to actually matter, then matters a lot. If you own a home near this corridor or you're shopping in that part of Westerville or southern Delaware County, it's worth knowing exactly what's being built, when it disrupts daily driving, and how projects like this tend to move the needle on property values over time.
What's Being Built on Sunbury Road
The project is a joint effort between Delaware County, the City of Westerville, and ODOT. The stretch getting the work runs from the County Line/Smothers intersection north to Maxtown Road.
The core scope:
- A continuous center turn lane added along the full project stretch
- A second northbound lane, which addresses the capacity gap that creates the typical evening backup
- Intersection upgrades at County Line/Smothers, including dedicated turn lanes to separate through-traffic from turning movements
- Curb and gutter, modern storm sewers, and new street lighting along both sides
- A sidewalk on the west side of Sunbury
- A multi-use trail on the east side
That last item is worth calling out separately. A multi-use trail is not just a bike lane. It runs wide enough for cyclists, joggers, and pedestrians side by side, with separation from vehicle traffic. On a road like Sunbury that currently has basically no safe off-shoulder option, that addition changes the practical usability of the corridor in a way that buyers notice.
What These Improvements Do to Daily Commutes
The pain point on Sunbury today is the County Line/Smothers intersection. Morning and evening, you get through-traffic stacking behind people waiting to turn, and with no dedicated turn pockets the whole thing backs up. The intersection upgrades fix that conflict. Separate turn lanes mean turning vehicles move independently of through-traffic instead of holding the whole lane.
The additional northbound lane helps anyone heading toward Maxtown or farther into Delaware County. Right now the single northbound lane during peak hours runs close to capacity, which creates the kind of unpredictable slowing that makes commute times feel unreliable. Adding capacity to that direction creates more buffer before the road hits congestion thresholds.
The sidewalk and multi-use trail also reduce a less obvious friction point. On the current corridor, walkers and cyclists end up on the shoulder or simply do not use Sunbury at all. When they disappear from the shoulder, drivers stop having to work around them at highway speeds, which smooths the flow a little even without adding lanes.
Construction phase timing is worth setting expectations on. Lane closures, shifting traffic patterns, and utility work will make the corridor more annoying before it gets better. That's temporary. The noise and the lane closures are not a permanent condition, and once the project wraps the new road profile is what buyers see.
How Infrastructure Projects Like This Affect Home Values
I'll be direct: road improvement projects do not automatically add value to every nearby property. The effect depends on the specific geometry of the home, the nature of the improvement, and what "nearby" actually means. Here's how I think about it in practice.
Homes directly on Sunbury with driveways at or near intersections are the most variable case. If your driveway access gets improved because a dedicated turn lane now exists at your intersection, that's a genuine quality-of-life upgrade. If your driveway gets reconfigured as part of the curb and gutter work, the transition period is annoying but the end result is usually cleaner access than the old gravel shoulder arrangement. Buyers touring those homes after construction end up experiencing something better than what existed before, which matters to how they perceive value.
Homes tucked into the subdivisions off Sunbury, with one or two streets of buffer from the main road tend to benefit the most from these projects. They get the connectivity improvement (faster, more predictable travel times on the corridor they use every day) without sitting directly on a widened arterial. Trail access from a neighborhood entrance is a meaningful amenity. "Quick access to the multi-use trail on Sunbury" is a real line in a listing description, not a stretch.
Commute time and predictability are underrated factors in how buyers compare otherwise similar homes. When someone is choosing between two houses at similar price points in this part of Delaware County or northern Westerville, how they feel about the daily drive on that corridor factors into the decision, even if they don't explicitly name it. Improving a key artery from "frustrating and unpredictable" to "faster and well-lit" moves the needle on buyer perception of the overall location.
The Bigger Network Context
Sunbury Road does not function in isolation. The planned Sunbury Parkway interchange at I-71 is part of a broader effort to connect the northern Delaware County development corridor more efficiently to the interstate system. As that interchange comes online, Sunbury becomes a more functional part of the regional network rather than a standalone county road with a congestion problem.
That layered improvement, Sunbury Road itself getting better while also connecting to better interstate access, is the scenario where long-term demand for nearby neighborhoods tends to grow. Buyers shopping in that area in the next three to five years will be looking at a materially different infrastructure picture than buyers who shopped five years ago.
What to Watch During and After Construction
A few things worth tracking if you own near this corridor or are timing a purchase around it:
Short-term construction noise and lane work will push some buyers to table decisions on homes directly on Sunbury until they see how the finished road looks. That means slightly lower competition from other buyers on those homes during active construction phases. If you like a property and you have a longer horizon, that can work in your favor.
Post-construction access changes can affect properties with driveways close to the intersection upgrades. Before you make an offer on a property directly on Sunbury, get a clear read on how the finished design interacts with that specific driveway or access point. This is a standard part of the due diligence I walk buyers through when we're looking at corridor-adjacent homes.
Trail access as a listing feature is something sellers near the east side of Sunbury should actively document once the trail is in. Trail proximity is a quantifiable amenity. It belongs in the listing description, in the photos, and in how the home is priced relative to comparable homes without that access.
Improved street lighting along the full project stretch changes the perception of the corridor at night. Buyers who tour a home in the evening will see a lit, orderly road instead of the poorly lit shoulder condition that exists today. That matters more than people usually expect.
The Bottom Line for Buyers and Sellers Near Sunbury Road
If you own a home in this area, this project is net positive for how buyers will perceive your location post-construction. The commute story gets better, the trail access is a real amenity, and the lighting and curb improvements make the corridor look more like the surrounding Westerville standard rather than an underdeveloped county road edge.
If you're buying near this corridor, understand that the construction phase creates short-term friction but the end state is what you're actually buying into. Model out what the finished road looks like, not what the construction site looks like today.
If you want a specific read on how this project affects a particular street or property you're evaluating, reach out and I'll walk you through the access geometry, the timeline, and how I'd position it in a buy or sell decision.
Book a call at calendly.com/adam-geuy or call or text 937-239-2919. I'll tell you exactly where a specific address sits in relation to the finished project and what it means for value and timing.
Adam Geuy, Realtor - NextHome Experience | ABR, PSA, SRS | License #202000794 | 937-239-2919