The final segment of the 39-mile Fayetteville Outer Loop is now complete, six months ahead of schedule. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), along with over 200 attendees, celebrated the opening of the new 5-mile segment with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on top of the freshly paved and striped road.
With the completion of the last highway segment from U.S. 401 (Raeford Road) to Camden Road, the outer loop now connects I-95 in northern Cumberland County and I-95 in Robeson County just below the Cumberland County line.
Construction on the first segment of the Fayetteville Outer Loop, which is also called Interstate 295, began in 1999. However, planning for the outer loop dates back to the late 1980s. The thinking behind the project was that it would increase local connectivity and result in economic development.
The loop around Fayetteville is not the only loop in the state.
“Many years ago, the state legislature established a special fund and plan to build urban highway loops around the state’s major cities, such as Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Wilmington, and Fayetteville,” NCDOT Spokesman Andrew Barksdale said.
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The final Fayetteville Outer Loop project began in summer 2022 and is led by Branch, a full-service construction firm headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia. Barksdale noted that the start of the 5-mile section was delayed by about three years.
“The project was delayed due to prior funding issues at NCDOT brought on by Hurricane Florence in 2018 and then COVID, and property settlements being delayed due to the 2016 Map Act ruling by the N.C. Supreme Court,” Barksdale said.
This section of the four-lane outer loop (two travel lanes in each direction) also included construction of 7 miles of secondary roads. The team built six bridges, including two 320-foot-long, 70-foot-wide mainline bridges that span Stewarts Creek.
When the final design maps were completed in 2005, NCDOT estimated that by 2030, 19,300 vehicles per day would cross the bridge on Strickland Bridge Road and enter or exit the Fayetteville Outer Loop. NCDOT now reports that the outer loop at this interchange carries an average of 39,400 vehicles per day.
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“From day one, the state emphasized completing the project early,” Branch Project Manager Mo Melad said. “We went into the project with the mindset of how we can get this project wrapped up as soon as possible.”
Accelerating the schedule required innovation and out-of-the-box thinking from Branch and the subcontractors.
The project involved moving massive amounts of materials, including 250,000 tons of asphalt and 2 million cubic yards of dirt. The team also cleared 200 acres. Efficiently moving these materials in and out of the work zone created a challenge for the team.
“We secured an agreement with someone who owned land adjacent to the project,” Melad said.
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The agreement with the landowner enabled the team to easily import soil for embankments without putting truck traffic on local roads, thereby compressing the schedule.
Branch also surged equipment to the area. They used six scrapers on the job, which Melad said are uncommon in the region, except on major projects like this one. They also used 10 to 12 articulated dump trucks. The off-road trucks were used to haul dirt from the adjacent property.
Branch used a large trestle as a temporary work platform and bridge while working on the bridges spanning Stewarts Creek.
“We used the trestle to position cranes and to move equipment and materials from one side of the creek to the other,” Melad said.
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The project required significant utility work, including the installation of 20,000 feet of water line and 5,000 feet of sewer line.
“Getting this done in a timely manner required major coordination with our utility partners, Vortex Civil Infrastructure,” Melad added.
The process was complicated by the timing of the work, which occurred at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were delays in acquiring materials. To avoid a slowdown, the team scheduled everything as soon as possible and ordered materials in advance.
Finally, the team prioritized bridge construction to avoid bottlenecks. Melad noted that Sanford Contractors, who handled bridge work, brought in extra crews and equipment to assist with accelerating the project.
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Branch’s office in Morrisville, North Carolina, is just 75 minutes from Fayetteville. Branch is no stranger to the city and to the Fayetteville Outer Loop. The builder partnered with other contractors on previous Fayetteville Outer Loop projects.
“This project hit our core capabilities and was a perfect setup for us,” Melad said. “The project required a large dirt moving operation and installation of significant amount of drainage [45,000 linear feet of new pipeline], which is our bread and butter.”
NCDOT was pleased with how the project progressed.
“As concerns or issues arose, the department and Branch met to determine a solution to keep the project moving forward,” NCDOT Resident Engineer Donavon Hunt said. “... Monthly construction meetings were held to discuss progress, safety, and the contractor’s schedule for the coming month.”
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The federally funded project had a construction budget of $151.8 million. The projected final construction cost will be higher, as several approved supplemental agreements totaling over $1.4 million have been executed. A large part of that cost was the extension of a noise wall to better shield an adjacent neighborhood.
Melad described the project as having a “positive financial outcome.” The main driver of that outcome is the expedited schedule.
Originally, NCDOT scheduled the project to complete in May 2026. Instead, it opened on November 25, 2025.
Some minor punch-list items remained beyond the opening, Melad said. The punch-list includes removing temporary erosion control measures, seeding to promote healthy grass, and installing the permanent, high-visibility thermoplastic lane markings and snow-plowable raised reflectors.
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In fall 2024, the project was on pace to finish even earlier than the six months they did complete it in. However, inclement weather set the project back a few months.
“NCDOT incorporated incentives to help deliver this project faster to the public, so they could begin benefiting from it as soon as possible,” Barksdale said.
The incentive pays the contractor $15,000 for every day the project finished early. While the incentive certainly was a driver of motivation, Melad credits the early completion achievement to the project team assembled by NCDOT, Branch, and its subcontractors.
“The main reason we completed the project ahead of schedule is the dedication of field staff, our trade partners, and the NCDOT,” Melad said. “NCDOT was open to difficult discussions, worked with us, and empowered us to solve problems ahead of time.”
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The Fayetteville Outer Loop is already having an impact.
“It’s improving regional mobility and highway safety, and it’s opening new areas to new commercial and residential developments on or near the new sections of the outer loop and its interchanges,” Barksdale said.
The Fayetteville Outer Loop gives drivers another option as they travel in and around Fayetteville and southeastern North Carolina. The added option has and will continue to alter traffic distribution, making roads more reliable and less congested.
- Owner: North Carolina Department of Transportation
- General Contractor: Branch, Roanoke, Virginia
- Designer: RK&K, Baltimore, Maryland
- Engineer: RS&H, Jacksonville, Florida
- Other Contractors: Sanford Contractors, Sanford, North Carolina; Vortex Civil Infrastructure, Durham, North Carolina
