Federal, State and Regional Partners Celebrate Hampton Roads Express Lanes Norfolk Segment 1B Groundbreaking
NORFOLK — Virginia Secretary of Transportation Nick Donohue joined federal, state, regional, and local leaders today to break ground on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Hampton Roads Express Lanes (HREL) Norfolk Segment 1B Project and celebrate the continued financial partnership among the Commonwealth of Virginia, VDOT, the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission (HRTAC), and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau.
The ceremony highlighted the financial partnership that most recently resulted in a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan of up to $310.2 million supporting the Norfolk Segment 1B Project and other investments advancing the Hampton Roads Express Lanes network.
Virginia Secretary of Transportation Nick Donohue was joined at the groundbreaking by VDOT Commissioner Stephen Brich, U.S. Department of Transportation Build America Bureau Executive Director Dr. Morteza Farajian, Williamsburg Mayor and HRTAC Chair Doug Pons, Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander, and other federal, state, regional, and local leaders.
“As we build an Express Lanes system designed to provide motorists with another choice for more reliable travel, we are also modernizing and extending the useful life of the infrastructure that makes those trips possible every day,” said Virginia Secretary of Transportation Nick Donohue. “The Norfolk Segment 1B Project allows us to make both of those investments at the same time, improving how this corridor serves Hampton Roads today while helping preserve it for the future.
The $389 million design-build contract for the Norfolk Segment 1B Project was awarded in early 2026, with final design and preliminary work underway ahead of construction. The project spans approximately 7 miles along Interstate 64 in Norfolk and will add a part-time Express Lanes option from east of Interstate 264 to Tidewater Drive in the westbound direction and from Tidewater Drive to Northampton Boulevard in the eastbound direction, while maintaining the three existing general purpose lanes in each direction. The project also includes improvements to 21 bridges through replacement, widening, and rehabilitation, along with other corridor improvements such as spot roadway widening and installation of overhead signs, tolling gantries, and noise barriers.
The project is funded by HRTAC using the Hampton Roads Transportation Fund, with federal TIFIA financing provided through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau. The recent TIFIA loan continues a long-standing financing relationship between the Build America Bureau and HRTAC. Including prior loans, the TIFIA program has provided approximately $2.1 billion in financing support to HRTAC for major transportation investments in the Hampton Roads region.
“We greatly appreciate Secretary Donohue, Commissioner Brich and Executive Director Farajian for being with Mayor Alexander and myself today,” said HRTAC Chair Mayor Doug Pons. "Their presence is emblematic of their unwavering commitment to the Commission’s regional transportation initiatives. For each of our projects, we’ve worked arm in arm with the Commonwealth, VDOT and the Build America Bureau to maximize our program of projects and transform in a generational manner the highways, bridges and tunnels that support the mobility of our citizens, businesses, military installations and the Port. In just 11 short years, this partnership has resulted in over $5.8 billion of improvements to nearly 200 lane miles of Interstate 64.”
“Breaking ground on Norfolk Segment 1B demonstrates the power of federal, regional, and state partners working together to turn vision into reality,” said Build America Bureau Executive Director Dr. Morteza Farajian, Ph.D. “Through flexible financing solutions like the TIFIA program, the Build America Bureau is proud to support innovative project delivery that lowers borrowing costs, leverages local dollars, and accelerates critical infrastructure improvements. We are proud of our partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia in advancing this transformative project that is aligned with USDOT’s Freedom to Drive Initiative, a key program that allows us to work with state and local partners hand-in-hand to tackle our toughest infrastructure challenges and eliminate the bottlenecks and gridlocks to deliver the Golden Age of Transportation to our taxpayers.”
The future HREL Norfolk Segment 1B will ultimately become part of the planned continuous 45-mile high-occupancy toll Express Lanes network along I-64, extending from west of Denbigh Boulevard in Newport News to the I-264/I-664 Bowers Hill interchange in Chesapeake. As traffic demand continues to increase in the region, incorporating the Express Lanes dynamic tolling model, together with other interstate improvements, provides an additional approach to managing congestion over the long term, offering more travel choices and supporting a more reliable transportation network for Hampton Roads motorists.
Construction on the Norfolk Segment 1B Project begins in fall 2026, with estimated completion in late 2029.
To learn more about the HREL Norfolk Segment 1B Project, visit https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/major-projects/64expresslanes/about-hrel/norfolk-segment-1b/.
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