FAYETTEVILLE – North Carolina 59 is being eliminated in Cumberland County.
The state route consists of only about 8 miles and courses through portions of Hope Mills and Fayetteville, as the blue line on this Google map shows.
At the request of both municipalities, the N.C. Department of Transportation is re-designating this route from N.C. 59 to Secondary Route 1596. However, the route’s street names will be retained – Main Street within Hope Mills, and Hope Mills Road within Fayetteville.
The NCDOT’s traffic services unit began removing about 40 “NC 59” signs this week.
Locally elected officials asked for the change in an effort to redirect commercial truck traffic, which prefer using state or U.S. highways. The goal of the two cities is to make this route less congested and safer for pedestrians.
“We are happy to work with our local partners, who suggested this change to help make this route more neighborhood friendly,” said Drew Cox, NCDOT's Division 6 engineer. “We evaluated their recommendation and agreed this highway designation is no longer necessary.”
Commercial trucks will continue to use N.C. 162 and Interstate 295 to better navigate this area of the county.