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Kindly consider these two situations:

First:

A. I'm hungry.
B. You should eat something! There's a restaurant down the road.

Also this one:

A: The streets are noisy. But just around the corner, you can find quiet places.

The previous situations contain those two expressions (down the road) & (around the corner), which mean (very near).

Generally speaking, could they be used interchangeably (Are they equally the same)?

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No, they are not interchangable. They may imply that the pointed place is near but each of them indicates a different specific direction that you have to take in order to arrive there.

down the road implies that you maintain your direction, the line in which you move.

@J.R has pointed that up the road and down the road may be interchangeable. Take a look here for more information about that: Why do you always "go down the street".

around the corner implies that you have to turn in a corner, you have to change the direction.

According to Cambridge Dictionary

turn

to (cause to) change the direction in which you are facing or moving

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    I like your answer, but down the road and up the road can be pretty much interchangeable expressions.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 10:28
  • @J.R. Thanks! I didn't know if "sense" is the proper word to differentiate down from up (I've translated the Spanish word "sentido"). Let me disagree with you, they are not completely interchangeable if your are pointing someone to an specific address. In Spain usually the numbers in a street decrease if you go downtown (city centre). If you are in number 4 and you point someone down the road, he will go in number 2 direction. If you point someone up the road, he will go in number 6 direction. Down or up may depend on the sense in which you want the person asking to go.
    – RubioRic
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 10:44
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    You can disagree all you want, I'm telling you how the expressions are used by native speakers. It's been explained on ELL before, here and here.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 11:17
  • @J.R. But is "sense" the proper word? I was not trying to be disrespectful. One of the links ell.stackexchange.com/a/49617/48962 established the same that I have stated.
    – RubioRic
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 11:22
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    The only part of your answer I have an issue with is the part that says, "down the road implies that you have to go down instead of going up." It doesn't. Sure, there may be times when up means up and not down, but, when it comes to up/down the road, as often as not, it doesn't matter. In other words, if a native speaker ever gives you directions and says, "Just go down this road..." and you notice the house numbers going up, don't bother to turn around and debate the preposition choice.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 11:29
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Usually down the road and around the corner mean something a little different, but it's possible they could be used interchangeably, depending on the layout of the roads.

We can take a look at this little town and I'll explain.

enter image description here

Let's say you are going from A to B. B is down the road from A (that is, they are on the same street), so I might tell you:

You look hungry. Just go down the road, and you'll see a restaurant on your right.

However, if you were going from C to D, C and D are not on the same street. So one way I might give you directions is:

There's a park around the corner. Head down this road and take your first left. You'll see the park on your right.

The one place where the two expressions might be used interchangeably is when a road makes a sharp, near-90° turn, but it's still the same road. So, for example, if we were at E, and I was giving you directions to F, then I might say either one of these:

Just keep going down the road; you'll see the red building next to the bank.

Just keep driving until you go around the corner; you'll see the red building next to the bank.

Either of those would be accurate, although I might combine the two to make myself more clear:

Just keep going down the road until it makes a sharp left turn. Soon after you go around the corner, you should see the red building next to the bank.

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