Interstate 295 (North Carolina) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Interstate 295 also known as the Fayetteville Outer Loop, when fully completed will be a 35 miles (56.3 km) Interstate Highway bypass around the western side of Fayetteville

Fayetteville, North Carolina

Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....

North Carolina, to be built to help relieve congestion through that city and to provide direct access from I-95

Interstate 95 in North Carolina

Interstate 95 is a major Interstate Highway, running along the East Coast of the United States from Florida to Maine. In North Carolina, I-95 runs diagonally across the eastern third of the state, from Rowland in the southwest to Roanoke Rapids in the northeast of the Inner Banks.-Route...

to Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...

. As of January 2011, about 7 miles (11.3 km) of this Interstate Highway have been opened to traffic from I-95 to U.S. Highway 401 (US 401).

History

The designation I-295 was approved by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

AASHTO, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols and guidelines which are used in highway design and construction throughout the United States...

(AASHTO) in May 2005 following an earlier approval by the Federal Highway Administration

Federal Highway Administration

The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...

(FHWA). Signs designation "Future I-295" were put up along the route when the section between I-95 and River Road was opened in July 2005. The first short section of this highway was opened in June 2003, and it extended only from River Road to US 401. Then, the only mentions of a highway number were on street signs at the entrance ramps that said I-295 (with an additional "FUTURE" on some). This highway will be marked as a full Interstate Highway once two parts of it (namely the bridge that crosses the Cape Fear River

Cape Fear River

The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by and conducted by the , , and the...

and its interchange with I-95) are improved up to Interstate Highway standards.

Construction on the next section of I-295, located from US 401 to the "All-American Freeway", was scheduled to start in the later months of 2008, and then probably completed by early 2012, but this construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

project was put on hold in November 2008 due to the severe shortage of money for highway construction in North Carolina at that time and extending though 2011. Instead of constructing this segment as one contract, work was split up into 3 smaller segments. Work first started in 2009 on the section from Bragg Boulevard (North Carolina Highway 24, NC 24) to Murchison Road (NC 210

North Carolina Highway 210

NC 210 is a 195-mile North Carolina state highway that connects settlements in the Atlantic Coastal Plain region. Due to its meandering route NC 210 changes directional orientation three times, changing from east-west to north-south near Angier, changing from north-south to west-east near Moores...

) using federal stimulus monies. This is to be completed in 2012. In March 2011 a contract to construct the portion of I-295 between US 401 and Murchison Road was awarded to a construction company

Construction

. The contract for the final segment, from Bragg Boulevard to the All-American Freeway, is scheduled to be awarded during the summer of 2011. The first two segments are not to receive pavement until the final contract is awarded. Work should be completed by April 2014. The remainder of the route south to Interstate 95 near St. Paul's may not be constructed until after 2020.

The interchanges along the present stretch of I-295 are at US 13 and I-95, at River Road, and at US 401. There are currently no mileposts or exit numbers along I-295 but these numbers will be assigned when I-295 is extended to Bragg Boulevard. The future numbers are provided in the exit list below.

I-295 has over the years had a variety of proposed highway designations. Its first proposed Interstate designation, rejected by AASHTO in 2003, was I-195. Other earlier designations have included extensions of US 13

U.S. Route 13

U.S. Route 13 is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville. In all, it traverses five states in the Atlantic coastal plain region,...

(in some newspaper articles) or as NC 24. This highway also has been shown as NC 13

North Carolina Highway 13

North Carolina Highway 13 was a primary state highway in the state of North Carolina. It had existed in four separate incarnations in Eastern North Carolina.-First NC 13:The first NC 13 was one of the original 1921 set of numbered North Carolina Highways...

on state maps in 2004 and 2005.

Exit list

Fayetteville, North Carolina

Right of way (public throughway)

Right of way is a term first used to describe the right to travel unhindered, to access a route regardless of land ownership or any other legality.The right of way may be limited...

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.