Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel
The Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel (HRBT) is a Hampton Roads crossing for Interstate 64 (I-64) and US Route 60 (US 60). It is a four-lane facility comprising bridges, trestles, artificial islands, and tunnels under the main shipping channels for Hampton Roads harbor in the southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States. It connects the historic Phoebus area of the independent city of Hampton near Fort Monroe on the Virginia Peninsula with Willoughby Spit in the city of Norfolk in South Hampton Roads and is part of the Hampton Roads Beltway. Prior to the opening of the HRBT (and well before even the HRBT's counterpart the Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel, or MMMBT), the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) operated ferries to carry vehicle traffic across the harbor from the Southside to the peninsula. There were two routes: one from Hampton Boulevard near Naval Station Norfolk to downtown Newport News, and a second, less popular route from Willoughby Spit to Fort Monroe in Hampton. Traffic at the time was typically about 2500 vehicles per day. The original two-lane structure opened November 1, 1957, at a cost of in ) as a toll facility. As population and traffic grew, construction on a parallel bridge–tunnel facility began in 1972. The construction of the in ) second portion of the HRBT was funded as part of the Interstate Highway System as authorized under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, as a portion of I-64, which means that it was funded with 90 percent Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funds from the Highway Trust Fund and 10 percent VDOT funds. The second span opened on November 1, 1976, as a toll-free roadway. The HRBT has two lanes each way, on separately built bridge–tunnel structures. The bridge–tunnel was originally signed as State Route 168 (SR 168) and US 60. It later received the I-64 designation when the second span opened in 1976, and, much later, SR 168 was truncated south of the crossing.
