NCDOT began researching the feasibility of upgrading I-95 in 2009. The study was completed in 2016.
The I-95 study, coupled with a $22.5 million federal grant (awarded in the fall of 2019), allowed the N.C. Board of Transportation to accelerate the timeline to widen and modernize a 27-mile section of the interstate between I-74 (Exit 13) in Robeson County and I-95 Business/U.S. 301 (Exit 40) in Cumberland County.
NCDOT held open houses in 2019 to review preliminary plans for the portion of the corridor between exits 22 and 40 — project I-5987 in the State Transportation Improvement Program.
A newsletter was mailed to residents and property owners in the project area in May 2020. The newsletter included information on the proposed improvements, current project schedule, and invited comments to project representatives. Functional Roadway Designs are being developed using data collected during the initial development process and will be approved in summer.
Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, NCDOT held a virtual meeting
on Sept. 29, 2020, rather than an in-person open house. Although the scope of work for this project will cover mile markers 13-21, the public comment period that ended Oct. 15, 2020, included the widening of the interstate through Exit 22 as part of a
future project.