Smithville Western, Honeytown roundabout designed to save lives, improve traffic flow

A new single-lane roundabout recently opened at the intersection of Smithville Western Road and Honeytown Road, a high-crash location on the border of Green and Wayne townships. Wayne County engineer Scott Miller said the $1.9 million safety project will improve traffic flow while reducing the likelihood and severity of crashes.

“This was the right project at the right location at the right time,” Miller said. “The roundabout will make this intersection much safer for everyone who uses it, especially the students who travel this route every day. It’s an investment in safety that will save lives.”

The Ohio Department of Transportation annually provides counties with a list of high-crash intersections and roadway sections based on five years of data. Smithville Western and Honeytown roads ranked high on that list, with 14 reported crashes from 2015-19. Those crashes included one fatality, nine injuries and four property-damage incidents.

An intersection safety study conducted in 2020 by the Environmental Design Group concluded a roundabout was the best solution to improve safety at the site. Research shows roundabouts reduce fatal crashes by 89%, injury crashes by 76% and overall crashes by 35%. Miller also noted the location’s proximity to the Wayne County Career Center, which sees heavy traffic from young drivers.

Wayne County secured $1,938,748 in Highway Safety Improvement Project funding, which covered 90% of the project’s costs. The county paid the remaining 10% — $215,416 — an amount Miller said was less than the cost of resurfacing 2 miles of roadway.

Wayne County was one of 20 successful applicants among 120 projects statewide that sought a share of more than $322 million in safety funding. Commissioners approved the HSIP grant in March 2021, and in March 2025, they awarded the construction contract to Fechko Excavating LLC for $1.65 million. Work began June 2 and concluded 82 days later.

The new roundabout enables continuous traffic flow at the intersection while slowing eastbound Smithville Western drivers entering Smithville to 20 mph, thereby eliminating the potential for head-on and right-angle crashes and reducing the severity of crashes.

Wayne County Commissioners Dave McMillen, Matt Martin and Jonathan Hofstetter thanked Miller for his team’s effort.

“This project shows the value of having a dedicated engineering staff working for the people of Wayne County,” McMillen said. “They did the hard work of securing the funding, making sure the road was open in time for the start of school and ultimately delivering an improvement that will make our county safer.”

Dan Starcher is the public communications coordinator for Wayne County.