FAYETTEVILLE – The N.C. Board of Transportation gathered in Fayetteville this week to tour Fort Bragg, take in a Fayetteville Woodpeckers game and adopt three highway dedications saluting the U.S. military and paying tribute to two civilians who have made lasting transportation and civic contributions.
The board took its monthly meeting on the road to see first-hand the unique assets and transportation challenges in Highway Division 6, which is headquartered in Fayetteville and includes Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Harnett and Robeson counties. On Tuesday, the board toured Campbell University and met with Harnett County officials.
In addition to routine business, the board members took these three actions related to their hosts:
- Creating what is known as an “overlay designation” for all 39 miles of the future I-295 as the "Airborne & Special Operations Highway.” (The board bestowed the same designation to only a segment of I-295 in 2014.);
- Dedicating a section of I-295 from I-95 to U.S. 401 in Cumberland County as the Lyndo Tippett Highway. Tippett was the state’s longest-serving transportation secretary from 2001 until 2009; and
- Dedicating the N.C. 87 Bypass from N.C. 41 to N.C. 87 in Bladen County as the Mac Campbell Jr. Highway. Campbell was a transportation board member from Bladen County for eight years under former Gov. Mike Easley. (Pictures of both men recognized Thursday are at the bottom of this release.)
“These two gentlemen left a legacy of leadership and distinction at the Department of Transportation during their long tenures serving the state of North Carolina,” said Grady Hunt, the Board of Transportation’s current Division 6 representative from Robeson County. “Mr. Tippett, in particular, helped enhance the transportation network of this state, and Mr. Campbell has made significant contributions to his community.”
During his tenure as transportation secretary, Tippett oversaw the implementation of several nationally awarded environmental programs. He also served on the N.C. Board of Transportation in the 1990s, representing Division 6. The Cumberland County commissioners requested the special designation. Tippett, who lives in Fayetteville, was among those who helped bring the U.S. Army’s Airborne & Special Operations Museum to downtown Fayetteville in 2000.
Campbell, whose family founded Campbell Oil. Co., is president of the Bladen We Care Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the medically deprived. He also was instrumental in getting an NCDOT call center located in Bladen County. The Elizabethtown Town Council requested that NCDOT dedicate the bypass after him.
The Transportation Board adopted the Airborne designation during a reception on Wednesday at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, following a tour of Fort Bragg and of highway projects in the Fayetteville. The board wrapped up its May meeting on Thursday morning in Fayetteville with the adoption of the other two resolutions.
“Fort Bragg is a major economic engine in this region and in this state,” Hunt said. “The military post was also a factor in speeding up the construction of I-295, which will improve mobility and bring new economic opportunity to the Sandhills.”
The Fayetteville City Council and Fort Bragg’s garrison commander requested the designation for the entire length of I-295. Fort Bragg is the world’s largest military installation, with over 50,000 active-duty soldiers – plus thousands more federal contractors and civilian Department of Defense employees.