FORT BRAGG — Fort Bragg’s All American gate is expected to close for several months by early next year, officials announced at Aug. 20 and Aug. 21 meetings.
The work would repair the roadway and the bridge over Gruber Road and could take 18 to 24 months to complete, Zach Oldham, chief master planning division Directorate of Public Works, said during an Aug. 21 Regional Land Use Advisory Commission meeting.
“This will take care and address a few issues with maintenance of the bridge over Gruber Road as well as some of the issues on the roadway,” Oldham said. “If you’ve ever come down All American, it’s kind of wavy and bumpy. So we’re going to get rid of that and fix that.”
During the work, he said, the visitor’s center will remain open and operational for visitors to obtain passes.
Officials are still working out details for funding the All American project, which is estimated to cost $20 million to fix the roadway and bridge, Jeffrey Willamson, director of Fort Bragg’s Directorate of Public Works, said during an Aug. 20 monthly Community Action Council meeting.
Oldham said that once the works start, communities neighboring Fort Bragg’s gates may see an influx in traffic.
Other road projects
Related to other traffic matters, he said, officials are looking to alleviate traffic near the Harnett County side of Nursery Road near Anderson Creek with a western bypass.
Oldham said the bypass will hopefully alleviate some of the traffic in Spring Lake coming from Moore County commuters who use Manchester Road.
He also said that as of Aug. 18, Manchester Road, from Morrison Bridge Road to Blue’s Road, will be closed in the coming weeks.
Drivers are advised to use alternate routes like Highways 690 and 24 and 27.
Fort Bragg's latest statistics
In other business at the Aug. 21 meeting:
Oldham provided Fort Bragg’s updated statistics. According to the numbers, Fort Bragg has about an $8 billion economic impact annually on the communities it borders. There are a little less than 50,000 regular Army soldiers on the installation, which serves a 265,000 total population of families, retirees and civilians. Oldham said that Fort Bragg is the equivalent of the fifth-largest city in North Carolina. Of its 162,000 acres, 145,000 acres are used for 20,000 training events annually that support all Department of Defense branches.
There are about 50 million square feet of facilities, 23 miles of rail and almost 1,500 miles of road, Oldham said.
RLUAC and its latest cases
During the meeting, several people spoke about the Regional Land Use Advisory Commission's history, mission and impact.
The commission formed 35 years ago from a recommendation that came out of a joint land use study from Fort Bragg and then Pope Air Force Base in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to executive director Vagn Hansen.
It now includes representation from elected officials in seven counties and 15 municipalities around Fort Bragg, along with state agencies like the North Carolina Parks and Wildlife and land conservation organizations like Three Rivers Land Trust and Sustainable Sandhills.
Retired Maj. Gen. Al Aycock, an ex officio member of the commission, said that the commission had a role during the 2006 to 2011 base realignment and closure process by providing information about community impact.
Col. Chad Mixon, Fort Bragg’s garrison commander, said the commission reviews land use development within five miles of the installation to protect it against noncompatible land use and encroachment.
Recent cases the commission has reviewed include a proposed asphalt plant that Mixon said would have been too close to Pope Army Airfield and made it unsafe to land aircraft.
Hansen said the asphalt plant wouldn’t have been tall, but could have posed issues for aircraft landing because there would have been minimal separation from the structure and flight paths.
Another proposed rezoning case would have been located immediately adjacent to Camp Mackall, Mixon said.
The case was to expand the airport overlay in Richmond County, which could impact the military’s training in the same airspace, Hansen said.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at [email protected] or 910-486-3528.