Interstate 95

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Looking northward from the highest flyover within the Interstate 95 and Future Interstate 295 directional cloverleaf interchange near Wade. - 05/30/2007

Four lanes of Interstate 95 travel south of the North Carolina 46 overpass near the Roanoke River in southern Northampton County. - 06/25/2010

Interstate 95 through eastern North Carolina is a rural freeway traveling through the eastern third of the state. Primarily avoiding major population centers, with the exception of Lumberton, I-95 generally serves through traffic between Florida and the Northeastern U.S. With a metropolitan area population of nearly 400,000, Fayetteville is the largest city along the corridor. Other regional service centers along I-95 include Wilson, Rocky Mount and Roanoke Rapids. Excepting stretches with auxiliary lanes, all 181 miles within North Carolina remain at just four lanes.

Interstate 95 North Carolina Guides

North

Rowland to Lumberton - 45 photos

St. Pauls to Fayetteville - 44 photos

Eastover to Dunn - 42 photos

Benson to Smithfield - 33 photos

Selma to Wilson - 43 photos

Rocky Mount to Whitakers - 33 photos

Enfield to Roanoke Rapids - 36 photos

South

Roanoke Rapids to Enfield - 40 photos

Whitakers to Rocky Mount - 33 photos

Wilson to Selma - 49 photos

Smithfield to Benson - 33 photos

Dunn to Eastover - 35 photos

Fayetteville to St. Pauls - 47 photos

Lumberton to Rowland - 48 photos

Because the majority of traffic using I-95 in North Carolina just passes through the state, North Carolina officials discussed the possibility of tolling the route to pay for improvements such as widening and modernization. An early 2000s proposal outlined adding six toll plazas statewide along the freeway, each levying tolls of $3.00 on passenger vehicles. It did not pass legislation. Additional proposals for tolling I-95 arose as well in 2006.

Subsequent proposals in 2011-12 involved tolling Interstate 95 in North Carolina with rates as high as $20 for using the entire freeway. Increased opposition, including the No Tolls on I-95 coalition formed, with billboards and banners posted along the I-95 corridor against tolling.

A ~~five~~ eight year, $708.9 million project started in Fall 2019 rebuilds six interchanges along Interstate 95 near Dunn. The substandard exchanges date from the 1960s, with narrow foot prints and low clearance overpasses. Improvements include:

Exit 70 - Bud Hawkins Road - geometric improvements to the parclo B2 interchange.
Exit 71 - Long Branch Road - eliminate frontage roads and rebuild the diamond interchange into a wider footprint.
Exit 72 - Spring Branch Road - realign frontage roads away from I-95 to accommodate a wider diamond interchange.
Exit 73 - U.S. 421 - smooth the curve of the freeway mainline and geometry of all ramps at the diamond interchange. Work also will eliminate the at-grade intersections with Simpson Avenue and Broad Street on the north side ramps.
Exit 75 - Jonesboro Road - greatly expand the footprint of the diamond interchange and realign or truncate frontage roads.
Exit 77 - Hodges Chapel Road - improve ramp geometry at the diamond interchange and realign or eliminate frontage roads so that they no longer tie into the ramps with I-95.

New overpasses built across Interstate 95 at the respective interchanges will be 16 and half feet tall and accommodate future eight lane expansion of the freeway.¹

A separate series of project expands Interstate 95 to eight overall lanes from just south of Exit 22 with U.S. 301 at Lumberton to mile marker 37 in Robeson County. $542 million in work through late 2026 got underway in Fall 2022.

A ten mile portion of Interstate 95 opened to traffic between North Carolina 50 at Benson and the Cumberland County line south of Dunn on October 21, 1958.² This portion was part of a U.S. 301 expressway extending north from Eastover to Kenly that would be grandfathered into the Interstate system. Another section of U.S. 301 directly added to I-95 was the Lumberton bypass.

scenes

Leading southeast from Interstate 95, NC 130 heads seven miles to NC 904. NC 130 ventures east to Fairmont while NC 904 straddles the state line to Tabor City and Ocean Isle Beach.

05/30/07

Wade Stedman Road (SR 1815) connects with Interstate 95 just east of the town of Wade.

12/13/17

Wade-Stedman Road east to U.S. 13 south acts as an alternate route to Interstate 95 south in lieu of the entrance ramp at Exit 61. Wade-Stedman Road ends at U.S. 13, 3.5 miles east of I-95, U.S. 301, and NC 295 (Exit 58).

06/25/05

Confirming markers for NC 50/242 (E Main Street) north of the parclo interchange (Exit 79) with Interstate 95 in the town of Benson.

01/18/19

Anderson Street west at the southbound loop ramp to Interstate 95 at Selma. Smithfield is served by the next three exits.

06/24/10

Entering the folded diamond interchange with Interstate 95 on Anderson Street east. Anderson Street becomes Pine Level Selma Road east of the freeway.

06/24/10

Interstate 95 passes over both Anderson Street and the adjacent Norfolk Southern Railroad at Exit 98.

06/24/10

Interstate 95 north leaves Selma for a nine mile drive to Kenly, where U.S. 301 branches northeast to Wilson.

06/24/10

NC 46 ventures three miles southeast from Gaston to meet Interstate 95 at a diamond interchange (Exit 176). Long Farm Road spurs south from NC 46, providing access to the southbound on-ramp. I-95 heads south three miles from here to Roanoke Rapids.

06/25/10

Spanning Interstate 95, NC 46 approaches the northbound on-ramp to Emporia, Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia.

06/25/10

Traffic to Interstate 95 north leaves NC 46 east. I-95 exits the state in 5.8 miles as NC 46 continues 3.3 miles to end at U.S. 301 in Garysburg.

06/25/10

References:

"Six outdated I-95 interchanges will be rebuilt; see what NCDOT has in mind." The News&Observer (Raleigh, NC), October 20, 2017.
"1958: Ten-mile stretch of I-95 opens." Fayetteville Observer (NC), October 18, 2008.