I never noticed it before -- probably because I didn't really pay much attention to the Fayetteville inset on the back of the map -- but the 2007 official NC map has the Hope Mills bypass marked as proposed, in about the same place I figured it would go (including a currently-built portion of Elk Road between Legion Road and US 301). It looks like the road will be around 4 miles long.
Which begs the question: why in the world is NCDOT wasting a state route designation on (a) a four-mile long road, and (b) a road that bypasses another road that's only seven miles long in its own right (NC 59)? Is this going to start a trend of all new bypasses getting state route numbers? (Try convincing Hickory of that one; their bypass, opened last year, has a four-digit SR number.) Looks to me like NC 162 is going to fall in line with the likes of NC 112, NC 902 and NC 400 on the List of NC Highways That Serve Less Than No Purpose.
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Oh well....