1980-2004

I-95 bottleneck finally bypassed

Interstate 95 skirts Eastover north of Fayetteville. The stretch through Cumberland County opened in 1980.

Drivers speed along Interstate 95 through Cumberland County these days without giving the highway route a second thought.

It was not always so easy.

In fact, they are driving along one of the most contested routes in state transportation history.

Roll back the clock to the 1970s: Seasonal travelers between the Northeast and Florida could enjoy nonstop driving on the nearly completed I-95 until they got into Cumberland County - until they reached the so-called "missing link," when they could find themselves caught in the dreaded "Fayetteville bottleneck."

The nightmarish congestion occurred because what amounted to the interstate then was what's called I-95 Business today: the old U.S. 301-Eastern Boulevard corridor that's lined with businesses and crisscrossed by traffic lights and turn lanes.

State transportation officials wanted to build an interstate bypass east of town. Local officials, the Fayetteville Area Chamber of Commerce and hotel and other business owners along the 301 corridor objected. At first they proposed the double-decking of I-95 over 301. After that was rejected, they called for I-95 to be routed nearby, between 301 and the airport.

The controversy dragged on for 15 years, including a seven-year court battle beginning in 1967.

Miles of traffic

Meanwhile, particularly around holidays, the bumper-to-bumper bottleneck grew worse. At times, as one veteran Highway Patrol trooper recalled, the traffic snarls would extend from Owen Drive (then called West Hudson Street) to Middle Road across the Cape Fear River.

Finally, after a federal appeals court cleared the way for construction, the first ceremonial shovels of dirt were dug on Oct. 15, 1976, for what was then called the bypass.

The 17-mile, $78.9 million stretch of I-95 opened on Dec. 15, 1980. It was one of the last legs of the interstate to be built.

The effects of the new highway on some U.S. 301 businesses were dramatic, as traffic dwindled on the old route. But other businesses flourished, particularly at the new I-95 interchange at Cedar Creek Road, which sprouted a cluster of hotels, restaurants and gas stations.

Some people say the drawn-out battle over building the road cost Cumberland County in Raleigh, where agitated transportation officials grew less inclined to help with the county's road needs.

That may be the case.

For drivers along the Eastern Seaboard, though, all that mattered was that the Fayetteville bottleneck was behind them for good.