Interstate 295 or I -295, also known as the Fayetteville Outer Loop, is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The highway forms the Fayetteville bypass and is 39 kilometers long, with a planned length of 56 kilometers.
Travel directions
I-295 to the west of Fayetteville.
I-295 currently begins at Raeford Road ( US 401 ) to the west of Fayetteville. The highway has 2×2 lanes and runs around the west and north sides of the city, close to the military base Fort Bragg. A small portion of I-295 has a parallel structure between the All-American Freeway and Murchison Road. I-295 ends northeast of Fayetteville at an interchange with Interstate 95.
ehangzhou.org: Features what is the best time to travel to the state of North Carolina.
History
Fayetteville is the 6th largest city in North Carolina with over 200,000 inhabitants, but it has a somewhat larger metropolitan region with more than 500,000 inhabitants. Historically, Fayetteville had only one freeway access, I-95, which runs east of the city and has almost no significance for traffic within the metropolitan area, meaning that almost all traffic within the metropolitan area is handled by city roads.
Fort Bragg is a base of the United States Army and with 50,000 stationed soldiers the largest military base in the world. It is located west of the town of Fayetteville. However, Interstate 95 runs east of Fayetteville, so traffic to and from Fort Bragg had to pass through the city. The Fayetteville Outer Loop has been constructed to make Fort Bragg more accessible and to open up the west side of Fayetteville. Construction of the Outer Loop was first proposed in 1977, but plans fell through for decades. Construction of the ring road became more concrete in the 1990s and construction finally started in 2001.
On June 16, 2003, the first 5 miles of I-295 opened between US 401 and River Road. On July 7, 2005, an 8-kilometer extension to I-95 followed. In May 2005, the number I-295 for the Fayetteville bypass was approved by the AASHTO. On August 4, 2014, 2 miles opened up on the northwest side of Fayetteville between Bragg Boulevard and Murchison Road. Initially, only the parallel runways were opened here. On August 11, 2016, a 9-kilometer connecting track opened from Ramsey Street (US 401) to Murchison Road. Construction on this part started in 2008, but work was soon halted due to lack of funds. The work was not put out to tender again until three years later and the project was opened to traffic 6 years later than planned. On December 2, 2016, the parallel lanes of I-295 were extended from Bragg Boulevard to the All-American Freeway. Although this section is only one kilometer long, this was an important opening because it connected the Fort Bragg military base to I-95, eliminating the need for traffic to pass through the town of Fayetteville. This completed the northern portion of the Fayetteville Outer Loop.
Work began in 2014 to extend the highway from the All-American Freeway to Cliffdale Road in west Fayetteville. This 9-kilometer stretch, plus the main carriageways between Murchison Road and the All-American Freeway, opened on November 26, 2019. Subsequently, on August 19, 2020, a short extension of 4 kilometers to Raeford Road on the west side of Fayetteville was opened. Allowed traffic coming from US 401 to I-95 to bypass the entire town of Fayetteville.
Beginning in August 2021, more portions of the beltway were signposted as I-295 instead of NC-295.
FINDJOBDESCRIPTIONS: Weather by month for the state of North Carolina, covering average temperatures for all 12 months.
Opening history
The interchange with the All-American Freeway is a bow tie.
From
Unpleasant
Length
Date
28 Ramsey Street (US 401)
31 River Road
5 km
16-06-2003
31 River Road
36 I-95
8 km
07-07-2005
21C Bragg Boulevard
23 Murchison Road (parallel carriageways)
2 km
04-08-2014
23 Murchison Road
28 Ramsey Street (US 401)
9 km
11-08-2016
21A All American Freeway
21C Bragg Boulevard (parallel carriageways)
1 km
02-12-2016
15 Cliffdale Road
23 Murchison Road
13 km
26-11-2019
12 Raeford Road
15 Cliffdale Road
4 km
19-08-2020
Future
For a long time it was expected that the construction of the section further south to I-95 would be a long-term project. In 2016, planning was accelerated. On December 8, 2017, a $130 million contract was awarded to build the four-mile section between Camden Road and I-95 south of Fayetteville. This part should be opened by mid-2022. The final section between Raeford Road (US 401) and Camden Road should open in mid-2024, after which I-295 around Fayetteville will be completed.
Traffic intensities
In 2016, 20,000 to 23,000 vehicles drove daily on the then-open portion of I-295 on the north side of Fayetteville.
