After 26 years in the works, North Carolina’s $1 billion, 39-mile Fayetteville Outer Loop project has been completed after the final corridor opened last month.
On November 25, North Carolina Department of Transportation officials cut the ribbon on the five-mile U.S. 401 to Camden Road portion of the Outer Loop, a four-lane corridor with a grass median, interchanges with bridges and two new exits at Camden Road and Strickland Bridge Road.
This $151.8 million final phase, which makes up the western portion of the I-295 Fayetteville Outer Loop, was awarded to Branch Civil Inc. of Roanoke, Virginia, in July 2022. Work wrapped up ahead of time after being scheduled for completion in Summer 2026.
North Carolina DOT
In addition to this final section, the Outer Loop was completed in four other phases:
- U.S. 401 Business/Ramsey Street to All American Freeway: split into three sections that were all completed between 2014 and 2016.
- All American Freeway to Cliffdale Road: completed in November 2019.
- Cliffdale Road to U.S. 401 (Raeford Road): completed in August 2020.
- Camden Road to I-95: completed in April 2025.
The Outer Loop was originally slated for full completion in 2024, but an NCDOT financial crisis brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 pushed its projected completion date to 2026.
The finished Outer Loop is expected to:
- reduce traffic volume on certain local street networks
- connect major routes in the south, west and north sections of Fayetteville
- Provide additional crossing at the Cape Fear River
- Promote economic growth and attract business and industry
Initial plans for the Outer Loop date to the late 1980s, and the first segment from Ramsey Street to River Road opened in 2003 after breaking ground in 1999. More than 40,000 vehicles now use the Outer Loop/I-295 every day.
