Getting Here, Going There

“Transportation and connectivity is the key to being competitive. It relates to quality of life improvements, tourism, port, etc. We must have strong transportation for all of this to work,” said one citizen.

Hampton Roads has its transportation issues as does any metropolitan region. When working together as a region to improve mobility within tough budgets on all levels, congestion mitigation is the answer, including development of public-private partnerships to add new and/or improve existing bridges and tunnels, growing the use of telecommuting, enlisting technology, considering transit-oriented development and identifying funding models, especially for development of high-speed rail and enhanced intercity rail.

Planning Ahead

The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, the intergovernmental body responsible for planning transportation in Hampton Roads, is developing its 2034 Long Range Plan. Also, a Transit Vision Plan for Hampton Roads is in process and proposes that an integrated, highcapacity transit system will help address some of the region’s social, environmental, and economic challenges interrelated to land use and sustainability and will address bicycle and pedestrian projects as well. Here is a link of upcoming transportation projects in Hampton Roads: http://www.virginiadot. org/projects/hampton%20roads/default.asp

ROADS, TUNNELS, BRIDGES AND FERRIES

Because of the abundance of waterways, the Hampton Roads’ transportation network is heavily dependent on and utilizes a number of methods to get around the water surrounding its communities. It is an effective but aging transportation system. In fact, Hampton Roads has more tunnels connecting its communities than any other region in the U.S. Tunnels, bridges and ferries enhance Hampton Roads residents’ ability to go from one area to the other and beyond. Hampton Roads’ interstates form a big loop or beltway around the region. The inner loop follows I-64 east and I-664 north. The outer loop follows I-64 west and I-664 south. Due west of the region are the principal north-south interstate highways, I-85 and I-95. Through Southampton County, I-95 is located just four miles west of the region. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-

Tunnel gives northeast coastal highway traffic direct access to Hampton Roads and saves 90 miles (145 kilometers) to the New York/New Jersey corridor.

Several roadway expansion or enhancement projects are underway including one to improve intermodal access to Norfolk International Terminals. Major regional projects completed in recent years include the Pinners Point Connector in Portsmouth, Route 17 in Chesapeake, the Chesapeake Expressway, widening of I-64 in Hampton/Newport News and the Southwest Suffolk Bypass.

The region’s newest South Norfolk Jordan Bridge spans the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River and includes a pedestrian friendly sidewalk with quick connections to I-464 and I-264. The fixed, high-rise bridge is the tallest in Virginia and not subject to openings for maritime traffic. It also has been designated an official Virginia truck route without height or weight restrictions.

A 15-minute ferry that connects the Scotland area in Surry County with the Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown is maintained by the state, providing highway commuters a very affordable highway alternative.

Per capita vehicle miles traveled has remained relatively stable over the last 10 years, suggesting that commuting distances are relatively short.39

Public Transit Service

Hampton Roads Transit, with over 55 fixed routes and 300 buses, provides public transportation throughout Hampton Roads. In addition to local and express bus services, HRT’s other services include a ferry connecting Norfolk and Portsmouth, paratransit service, and TRAFFIX, a program providing alternatives to the one-person-per-car commute. In 2011, HRT launched “The Tide,” Virginia’s first light rail system that runs in Norfolk and serves as a starter line for a future region-wide intercity rail transit system.

Williamsburg Area Transit provides bus transportation throughout Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and area shopping locations to the west while the Bay Transit Company, which is a service of Bay Aging, provides bus service on weekdays to all residents in the ten counties of the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck, including Gloucester and Mathews Counties.

Norfolk’s Greyhound Bus service provides intercity connections nationwide.

RAIL/INTERMODAL SERVICE

Hampton Roads is served primarily by one Class I freight rail giant, CSX. The ports create a perfect entry location for the railway for cargo distribution throughout the East Coast and Midwest.

Efficient connections with other rail systems and motor carriers provide easy and affordable access to the rest of the U.S. Additionally, more than 50 common freight carriers serve Hampton Roads, and UPS maintains a local terminal. CSX operates on 23,000 miles of track in 23 states, Washington, DC, Montreal and Ontario, Canada. It offers a Rail-toTruck Transshipment Facility in Newport News and an intermodal terminal in nearby Portsmouth. In addition, CSX is championing the National Gateway Initiative, a public-private partnership to create a more efficient freight route linking the Port of Virginia with Midwestern markets, improving the flow of rail traffic between these regions by increasing the use of double-stack trains. When the project is complete, Hampton Roads will have few limitations for its market reach via rail.

Amtrak connects the region to other areas of the country with passenger trains departing daily from Newport News on the Virginia Peninsula. Additional passenger rail service in development for Hampton Roads will serve five Southside cities, three of which have employment densities of over 1,000 jobs per square mile (Norfolk, the proposed terminus, has 4,000) and 65% of the region’s population.34

Air Service

The region’s two major airports, Norfolk International Airport (ORF) and Newport News Williamsburg Airport (PHF), are located within a 30-minute commute of most business and residential areas in the region and provide over 200 daily flights to 22 airports, 17 of which are International Gateways. These airports are currently handling over 72 million pounds of air cargo per year and almost 4.7million passengers. Currently, an average of more than 400 landings and takeoffs take place each day at the region’s airports. This includes passenger and cargo airlines, general aviation, air taxi and charter flights. In addition, the airports often handle military flights when local base runways are under repair.35

Newport News Williamsburg Airport has quietly dropped the “International” from its title in its marketing.

Breeze Airways, a new low-cost airline, will invest $5.2 million to build an operations center in Norfolk, producing 116 jobs. The Salt Lake City, Utah-based startup company, which offers service to mid-size U.S. markets, will include Norfolk as one of its first four operations bases in the United States.

Ports

Hampton Roads’ businesses enjoy direct access to three major marine terminals run by the Virginia Port Authority: Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal and Newport News Marine Terminal. Hampton Roads is also home to the nation’s first privately developed container terminal, APM/Maersk. Currently, over 95% of the world’s shipping lines call on the Port of Virginia, linking Hampton Roads and the rest of the U.S. to more than 250 ports in 100 countries. Hampton Roads has a welldeserved reputation for providing efficient, modern cargo handling and yearround transportation.

The Port Authority has forecasted healthy growth during the next 10 years based on the opening of a widened Panama Canal in 2014 and enhanced rail connections with CSX’s National Gateway. The Port of Virginia, the third busiest general cargo port on the East Coast with 50-foot deep channels and an ice-free harbor, is home to some of the largest and fastest container cranes in the world. A long-range master plan that has the development of Craney Island Marine Terminal as its centerpiece maps out the steps to more than double the Port’s over-all capacity over the next few years. 

Port of Virginia, Norfolk International Terminal

Helpful Information

Amtrak Passenger Rail Amtrak.com; 800-USA-RAIL (800-872-7245)

Bay Transit Company www.BayTransit.org Cruises www.CruiseNorfolk.org

E-ZPass Electronic Toll Systems www.ezpassva.com/

Greyhound Bus Service www.Greyhound.com

Hampton Roads Traffic Cameras www.trafficland.com/city/ORF

Hampton Roads Transit http://gohrt.com/

Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization www.HRTPO.org

Light Rail-The Tide http://gohrt.com/services/the-tide/

Newport News Williamsburg Airport (PHF) www.Flyphf.com

Norfolk International Airport www.TakeORF.com

Reinvent Hampton Roads https://reinventhr.org/ Toll-Free Virginia Highway Traffic Information Dial 511

Updates on I-64 Construction www.i64widening.org/default.asp

VDOT Traffic and Travel Info www.511virginia.org/

Virginia Department of Transportation www.virginiadot.org/

Virginia Port Authority www.PortOfVirginia.com

Williamsburg Area Transport http://gowata.org/