The latest addition to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s planned 45-mile high-occupancy express lane network in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area will soon be under construction, with the award of a $389 million design-build contract to Lane Construction Corp. for the Norfolk Segment-Phase 1B project.
Spanning an approximately seven-mile stretch of I-64 between the I-264 and Tidewater Drive interchanges, the project will add a part-time, high-occupancy express shoulder lane to the corridor while retaining three eastbound and westbound general-use lanes. Nineteen bridges will be widened and/or rehabilitated, while two structures that carry Chesapeake Boulevard will be completely replaced. Noise barriers, overhead signage, toll gates and roadway widening in specific locations to maintain the minimum shoulder width are also part of the project, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2029.
Allen Myers is in the final months of a $188 million design-build project to build the first phase of Norfolk’s express lane segment — a two-mile stretch between Patrol Road and Tidewater Drive that includes adding a part-time Express Lane in each direction, bridge work on eight existing structures and installing toll infrastructure, noise walls and signage.
Funding for the express lanes comes from the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission (HRTAC), created to prioritize investments in the densely populated region and contract with VDOT to help with project development and construction. As other sections are added in the coming years, the Hampton Roads express lane network will extend from west of Denbigh Boulevard in Newport News to the I-264/I-664 interchange at Bowers Hill in Chesapeake. Two segments are already in operation as 24-hour toll operations.
It extends approximately seven miles of I-64 between the I-264 and Tidewater Drive interchanges.
Map courtesy of VDOT
Along with the $3.9 billion expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, which will be completed next year, two other projects are underway on HRTAC’s planned express lane network.
The Shirley-Branch Joint Venture is working on a two-mile, $314 million design-build segment in Hampton, scheduled for completion later this year, while Lane Construction is expanding and reconfiguring an 11.5-mile segment in Newport News under a $110 million design-build contract. This project is scheduled to end in 2027.
