The rebuilt Bud Hawkins Road bridge (Exit 70) reopened on Friday night. The contractor for the NCDOT widening I-95 closed the exit last summer, so the bridge structure could be updated.

Sunday night the contractor closed the Rhodes Pond Road overpass to begin the process of updating the exit to modern standards. It is expected to be completed in nine months.

These bridges are only two of many bridges being rebuilt under the widening project that began in January 2020 and stretches from Exit 55 to Exit 71. The contract was awarded to improve most of the bridges north of Exit 71 and Exit 81 (I-40 junction). Construction on this portion began last fall and will be completed in 2026. 

“The contractor is widening the four-lane lane highway into a total of eight lanes and modernizing the interchanges with new ramps and minor road realignments,” stated the press release. 

The project is expected to be completed in full by the end of 2025. 

Already, other bridges in Harnett County have been replaced including Long Branch, Baywood, and Sherill Baggett roads. The bridges at Smithfield Road and Percy Strickland Road have yet to be replaced.