Residents of western Fayetteville, brace yourselves for a shift in your daily commute. Next week, a piece of Strickland Bridge Road, stretching between Stoney Point Road and Century Circle will be closed for good—a move necessary for the construction of Interstate 295's new interchange. Those living around Weathergreen and Leland drives, specifically, will need to redirect their routes with a right turn onto Strickland Bridge Road post closure on Sept. 4.
The rerouting isn't without cause. A fresh alignment for Strickland Bridge Road is in the pipeline, designed to soar over I-295 and introduce a new interchange replete with on/off ramps just behind New Century International Middle School. This infrastructure upgrade is part of the grander scheme that unfolded following the North Carolina Department of Transportation's $152 million contract established in 2022, according to NCDOT. Through these efforts such as, the Outer Loop will extend its reach—a 5-mile-long embrace from Raeford Road to Camden Road, with the promise of completion by the summer of 2026.
Let's take a pause to note a recent development. The interchange at Camden Road, outskirts of Hope Mills, has thrown open its partial arms to traffic since July. This extension inches the Outer Loop further south, all the way to I-95 in northern Robeson County. The convenience this spells for motorists is tangible, for the Outer Loop aims to ease the flow, cutting down journey times and knitting communities closer in the embrace of improved infrastructure.
