11/22/2025
Finally and ahead of schedule!!! Safe travels !!
🛣️ Final Segment Of I-295 Outer Loop Opens Tuesday!
🙌 The Moment We Have Waited For! —Early!🕺
PROJECT OVERVIEW
🎈 The Fayetteville Outer Loop — Interstate 295 — reaches a major turning point this Tuesday. The public is invited to the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Tuesday by entering the 295 on Raeford Road and heading south on this new stretch.
🏗️ With the final connection between US-401 (Raeford Road) and Camden Road opening, drivers will finally be able to travel the entire loop continuously. This creates a full beltway connecting I-95 in northern Cumberland County all the way to I-95 near the Robeson County line, completing the vision designed years ago.
ROUTE COMPLETION
📘 This opening links the western side of the loop with the newly completed section between Camden Road and I-95, which went live in July 2024. Together, these pieces form a nearly 39-mile continuous route, wrapping around the western, northern, and eastern sides of Fayetteville for the first time.
📘 The loop runs from Raeford Road → Camden Road → Parkton area → over to I-95 South → up across Eastover → around the north side near Murchison Road and Ramsey Street → then back around toward western Fayetteville.
COSTS AND CONSTRUCTION
💰 The entire Outer Loop carries an estimated cost of over $1 billion, spanning several years of phased design and construction. Some of the connecting roadway was first started in 1999, while the Ramsey to Eastover phase was opened in 2003 giving the loop its first look.
🛠️ Much of the project dates back to contracts awarded as early as 2017, with large-scale construction beginning in spring 2019. Now, the final segment — connecting Raeford Road and Camden Road — cost approximately $152 million, including bridges, drainage systems, grading, and new interchanges.
🚙 While the original expectation for total connectivity stretched into 2026, the segment opening Tuesday arrives ahead of schedule, marking one of the most significant infrastructure completions in the region.
BENEFITS FOR DRIVERS
😁 The now-complete loop is expected to relieve traffic pressure on several of Fayetteville’s busiest areas. Residents who regularly travel through Raeford Road, Gillis Hill Road, and the Walmart / Good Middling Drive zone know these areas can be especially congested, particularly during peak hours. The new loop may finally help pull traffic away from these choke points, giving drivers faster alternative routes across the county.
🛣️ With Gillis Hill Road receiving upgrades and a newly planned plaza near Raeford Road and Gillis Hill, many residents have been expressing concern about potential for heavier traffic. This Outer Loop completion may help balance that flow by offering another major corridor and relief for east-west travel, reducing the number of vehicles passing through already crowded intersections.
REGIONAL IMPACT
🎯 The completion improves long-distance travel around Fayetteville and enhances access to major highways, including NC-87, NC-24/210, US-401, and both ends of I-95. It also strengthens connections for the military community at Fort Bragg, providing faster routes between the installation and I-95.
📘 Transportation officials say the loop will support economic growth, improve emergency response times, expand freight capacity, and provide more reliable options as Cumberland County continues to grow.
LOOKING AHEAD
🛣️ With Tuesday’s opening, Cumberland County reaches a milestone years in the making — smoother travel, stronger connectivity, and the completion of one of the region’s largest highway projects.
🤔 Do you think this will ease the traffic pressure around Raeford Road and Gillis Hill Road the way many hope it will? 💭 Comment below !
Stay aware. Be alert. Drive safe.
🫡 WatchOut Cumberland County NC
