One month after its second anniversary, the I-64 widening project’s first segment remains on schedule.
Construction crews are still working to place the base and surface asphalt on the new lanes that will run east and westbound. Ramp extensions and bridge repairs at Fort Eustis Boulevard are still in the works.
As originally planned, the 5.6-mile project, which stretches from just west of Jefferson Avenue (Exit 255) to east of Yorktown Road (Exit 247), is expected to be done by the end of the year.
It’s also about $10 million under budget, according to the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission’s monthly executive report to the Virginia Department of Transportation. That money hasn’t been released to another project yet, HRTAC executive director Kevin Page said.
The project also includes rebuilding Industrial Park Drive bridges, Lee Hall Reservoir bridge repairs, placing starfish-emblazoned noise walls and landscaping the median. Crews are working on that part, too.
A sum of $80,579,714 has been spent on the project as of Oct. 5.
The project’s budget comes out to $144 million — $100 million from state and federal funds, and $44 million from the Hampton Roads Transportation Fund, which the HRTAC oversees.
“Everything is just going according to schedule. There’s a lot of fresh asphalt and lane markings,” Page said. “I’d say VDOT and its contractors are right on point for delivery.”
Segment II, which spans from Route 199 (Humelsine Parkway/Marquis Center Parkway) near Exit 242 to just east of Route 238 (Yorktown Road) near Exit 247 is also on schedule. Ultimately, that stretch will have additional 12-feet-wide travel lanes and 12-feet-wide shoulder lanes in the median space and the repair and widening of nine bridges and six major culverts.
Drivers might see crews clearing the road outside eastbound lanes from Burma Road Bridge to Route 199 and doing basic maintenance along the road, like tree trimming and pothole repairs. They’re also installing signs and overhead sign structure foundations, and working on Form, Resteel and Pour operations at the Yorktown Bridge, Penniman Road Bridge, Burma Road Bridge, Exit 243B Ramp Bridge and Jefferson Bridge. A sub-base layer of cement-treated crushed concrete is also in the works, according to a recent update.
Next up: construction on the Yorktown Road, Jefferson Avenue, Burma Road, Penniman Road and Exit 243B ramp bridges, working on drainage culverts and cutting and filling operations in the median.
That project is entirely funded by HRTAC and was budgeted to cost $213,592,853. The project is about $23 million under budget, and the excess funds have been allocated toward Part II of the I-64/I-264 project, Page said.
