A sampling of Virginia’s major road projects

HAMPTON ROADS

Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project

Work continues on Virginia’s largest high- way construction project, the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) expansion. The project will widen the four-lane segments of the 9.9-mile Interstate 64 corridor between Norfolk and Hampton to six lanes on land and eight over the water with twin two-lane tunnels. In April 2023, a custom tunnel boring machine (TBM) launched from South Island to construct the first of two new tunnels. Then, in the fall, crews connected the new south trestle bridge to Willoughby Spit in Norfolk, allowing it to be accessed by land, so concrete deliveries could be made 24 hours a day for the new bridge deck without impacting traffic. In November, crews completed the largest continuous concrete pour in the Virginia Department of Transportation’s history when they paved 5,480 cubic yards of concrete over 31 hours for the base slab of the North Island receiving pit. Finally, in December 2023, the tunnel boring machine reached the halfway point between South Island and North Island, completing 596 rings after excavating about 4,000 feet of the new tunnel. This spring, I-64 eastbound traffic will be shifted onto the new north trestle bridge at the Hampton shoreline, connecting to the existing eastbound tunnel.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Improve 95

As part of the plan to address gridlock on Interstate 95 near Fredericksburg, VDOT has several projects underway between Exit 148 and Exit 130 at a cost of more than $1 billion. Improve I-95 consists of four construction projects that will be in various phases through 2025.

Long Bridge expansion

The most significant rail choke point on the East Coast will be fixed as part of a $729 million federal funding package for transportation projects in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in December 2023. The package includes funding to finalize the long-planned $1.9 billion expansion and upgrade of the Long Bridge, a nearly 120-year-old, two-track railroad bridge that connects Virginia and D.C. and serves as the main passenger and freight rail connection between the Southeast and Northeast.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY/ SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

Interstate 81 improvements

Resulting from a 2018 study, the $3.1 billion Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Program lists 64 planned upgrades targeting safety and reliability along the 325-mile corridor from Winchester to Bristol. It’s scheduled for completion in 2033. In October 2023, the Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded a $7.7 million contract to Fairfield-Echols for construction of an I-81 southbound auxiliary lane that will connect exits 220 and 221 in the Staunton area, creating an additional lane between the two interchanges and more space for merging traffic from I-64 to I-81. Next to that, a four-mile stretch of I-81 will be widened, adding a third lane in each direction this spring. The $101 million project is between exits 221 and 225 and includes the widening of five bridges. The widening of I-81 in the Bristol area was expected to begin construction early this year.