VDOT: Builder can start on $3.8 billion HRBT expansion

Officials can now start building the long-awaited Hampton Roads BridgeTunnel expansion, the Virginia Department of Transportation said last week.

The department issued what’s called a notice to proceed to Hampton Roads Connector Partners, a joint venture in charge of building the project. That means the builder can start interstate and tunnel work on the 9.9mile corridor, VDOT said. The venture received all the necessary state and federal permits to start work along Interstate 64 and in waterways.

The $3.8 billion expansion project will add twin two-lane tunnels next to the existing bridge-tunnel, as well as widen I-64. One lane and one drivable shoulder in each direction will be designated as high-occupancy toll lanes. The price to use HOT lanes varies based on demand.

The project is being financed with regional sales and gas taxes in addition to $200 million from Virginia’s transportation prioritization program, which is called SMART SCALE.

VDOT said the HRBT expansion ranked first in many of the prioritization program’s categories, including easing congestion, access to jobs, intermodal and multimodal access and travel time reliability.

The Connector Partners had already done some geotechnical boring and early work on the HRBT South Island — where a seabird nesting site was paved over and 25,000 endangered migratory seabirds lost their home. Gov. Ralph Northam then announced a plan to transplant the displaced colony to Fort Wool, an adjacent manmade island. Against all odds, it worked.

A tunnel boring machine the length of a football field will be assembled in a 65foot pit on the South Island and launched in early 2022 to start excavating the two new tunnels.

Most construction and tunneling will take place over a 55-month period, officials said. It will start this year and stretch through November 2025.

VDOT warned that with the onset of construction, drivers can expect to see pile driving happening in the water. Still, two lanes of travel will be available in both directions, officials said.

The $3.8 billion expansion project will add twin two-lane tunnels next to the existing bridge-tunnel, as well as widen I-64. One lane and one drivable shoulder in each direction will be designated as high-occupancy toll lanes.