Overview:

• Construction of the Outer Loop started in 1999

• The highway encircles Fayetteville and Hope Mills

• The ribbon-cutting ceremony is open to the general public

A map showing the route of a highway around Fayetteville North Carolina.
The route of Interstate 295, the Fayetteville Outer Loop. It runs from Interstate 95 in Eastover, across the north side of Fayetteville to Fort Bragg, then down through west Fayetteville to the Hope Mills area, and then back to I-95 south of Hope Mills near Parkton in Robeson County. Credit: North Carolina Department of Transportation

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the ribbon-cutting ceremony is open to the general public, and not just invited guests.

The final segment of Interstate 295—the Fayetteville Outer Loop—is scheduled to open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Tuesday, the North Carolina Department of Transportation said on Wednesday.

The ceremony is open to the public. It will be in the southbound lanes of I-295, halfway between the Little Rockfish Creek bridge and the Strickland Bridge Road overpass. To get there, drivers should enter I-295 South via the Raeford Road interchange, then travel south on the new highway to the location, the DOT said.

After the ceremony ends and is cleared, the highway will open to traffic, DOT spokesperson Andrew Barksdale said.

This last segment is opening earlier than planned. The DOT in 2022 estimated the last 5 miles, between Raeford Road in west Fayetteville and Camden Road west of Hope Mills, would be finished in summer 2026.

Construction of the Outer Loop started in July 1999, according to archives of The Fayetteville Observer. The first segment, about 2.6 miles, opened in 2003 between Ramsey Street and River Road near Wade and Eastover.

A highway bridge, with workers standing on it and a truck on it. Green direction signs overhead.
Workers on a bridge near Raeford Road in west Fayetteville on the final segment of the Interstate 295 Fayetteville Outer Loop on November 5, 2025. Credit: NNorth Carolina Department of Transportation

Once the final segment is done, the Fayetteville Outer Loop will be 39 miles long.

I-295 encircles the north, west, and south sides of the city. It runs from Interstate 95 at U.S. 13 in Eastover, west to Ramsey Street in north Fayetteville, and across the north side of the city to Fort Bragg and the All American Freeway. It then heads south to Raeford Road in west Fayetteville near Hoke County, and curves back to the southeast around Hope Mills to reconnect to I-95 near Parkton in Robeson County on the south side of Hope Mills.

Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.

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Paul Woolverton is CityView's senior reporter, covering courts, local politics, and Cumberland County affairs. He joined CityView from The Fayetteville Observer, where he worked for more than 30 years.