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Commonwealth Transportation Board approves plan to widen I-64 at HRBT

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The Commonwealth Transportation Board has unanimously approved a plan to reduce congestion at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel by widening a 12-mile stretch of Interstate 64 and adding a new, parallel tube.

Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said the work is expected to take about eight years and cost between $3.5-$4 billion.

“It’s a good day for Hampton Roads, and a good day for the state,” Layne said. “The region is a primary economic engine, with the port and with the military presence, and this will be a tremendous step forward in relieving that congestion.”

Layne said no decision has been made at this point whether the new tunnel will be dedicated in both directions, or whether it will be “reversible” depending on traffic flow at specific times of the day.

The Virginia Department of Transportation had been considering several different plans to reduce congestion, ultimately settling on one that does not involve a “third crossing” that would have connected the I-664 and the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel to I-564 in Norfolk.

Instead, VDOT will add one lane eastbound and one westbound to I-64, starting at the I-664 interchange in Hampton and stretching to I-564 in Norfolk, near the naval base.

Layne said the unanimity of the CTB’s vote was facilitated by a newfound agreement on the part of elected leaders around the Hampton Roads region. Layne cited a gradual move toward regional consensus and the retirement of Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, who had been a vocal opponent of the plan.

“For many years, decades even, the region had acted parochially,” Layne said. “I think with some new leadership in Hampton Roads, including (new Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander), they began to view things differently. We tried to put forth the message from Richmond that it’s best to select an alternative that can actually be built, rather than asking for everything and then nothing gets done.”

Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck was happy with the approval of the plan, which he said should benefit the region economically and in terms of quality of life by relieving congestion at the HRBT’s notorious traffic choking point.

“My understanding is that things had been stalled for many years in trying to select an alternative,” Tuck said. “But in the end we determined that this was the best one, in part because it allows for exploration and research into other sorts of things.”

Layne said some elements of other plans could still come back into play at some point, but that it was important to settle on one of the alternatives and get started with the time-consuming process.

“I applaud the local leadership for coming together like this,” Layne said. “We made it clear to them, just because we pick this alternative, that doesn’t mean none of the other things will happen. But it’s important to pick a project and get started on it.”

Tuck said he came out in support of the alternative only after he received assurances from Layne and VDOT that the widening of I-64 would not “encroach on Hampton University property.”

At one point there had been concerns that the expansion would involve the use of land that currently belongs to HU. School president William Harvey had vowed that “not one inch, not one grain of sand” of the school’s land would be given up.

In particular, there was concern that the expansion would come too close to the campus’ fabled Emancipation Oak, a historic landmark that was the site of the first Southern reading of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to newly freed slaves.

But last month, Layne acknowledged that the expansion could utilize the median between the highway’s eastbound and westbound lanes for the expansion, rather than moving toward HU’s property.

He reiterated on Wednesday that there would be “no permanent impact to Hampton University” as a result of the project.

Holtzclaw can be reached by phone at 757-928-6479.