Interstate 64 in Virginia - Hampton Roads Beltway

Hampton Roads Beltway

I-64 east from a point near the Hampton Coliseum forms part of the Hampton Roads Beltway, a circumferential highway which passes through the major cities of Hampton Roads. At the terminus of I-64, Interstate 664 begins, passing through Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk before crossing the harbor via the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel to reach Newport News and Hampton, completing the loop. The beltway is signed Inner Loop and Outer Loop to help avoid confusion.

The eastern terminus of I-64 is not the road's easternmost point. After crossing Hampton Roads through the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and entering Norfolk, the road makes a wide loop toward Virginia Beach and through that city's northwest side. The road then curves toward its final destination on the west side of Chesapeake. From the point where the road enters Chesapeake, I-64 "east" actually runs westward, ending at a location known as Bowers Hill near the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp where it becomes Interstate 664. Today, I-64 is no longer signed as east or west between Bowers Hill and the east junction with I-264 to limit possible confusion; instead it is signed as the inner or outer loop of the Hampton Roads Beltway. All entrance ramps between these two locations are signed with control cities that differ according to the location of the exit. For inner (westbound) traffic, Suffolk is the most common control city used, although Norfolk is used at two entrances in Chesapeake to indicate the most direct route to Norfolk (via Interstate 464). For outer (eastbound) traffic, Norfolk, Hampton, and Virginia Beach are variously used.

Interstate 64 in the Hampton Roads area is gradually being augmented with HOV-2 lanes. In the 1990s, reversible HOV-2 lanes were added between I-564 and I-264. A relatively simple design, it allows only direct exits to the aforementioned termini, slip ramps beyond them, and an additional pair of slip ramps just west (compass north) of the I-264 interchange. The reversible lanes operate westbound from around midnight to noon and eastbound from around noon to midnight. HOV restrictions are only in place during rush hour periods; at other times, any vehicle may use the lanes except during reversals at noon and midnight. Access is controlled by clock-controlled automated gates, and each ramp has multiple gates to provide a safeguard against malfunction. Beyond the reversible lanes, increasing lengths of Interstate 64 (and its spur routes) are receiving HOV-designated left lanes, subject to restrictions during rush hours. Such extensions are ongoing.

Interstate 64 has two three-digit bypasses that are shorter than the main leg for through traffic, both in the Hampton Roads area. Interstate 664, which connects the Virginia Peninsula to South Hampton Roads on the western side of Chesapeake (and to the eastern terminus of I-64), is about 15 miles (24 km) shorter than the bypassed main leg. Interstate 264, which passes through downtown Norfolk, is about a mile (1.6 km) shorter than the main leg it bypasses.

Interstate 64 passes through the historic African-American neighborhood of Jackson Ward in Richmond, Va. When the interstate was being built in the late 1950s, a cemetery was displaced, resulting in several coffins being forced into the James River. The builders of the interstate also destroyed a house on Fifth Street, which was the birthplace of legendary dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.