Free Republic

In the next year or two, the seabed between Hampton and Norfolk will start to change. Mud and sand will slowly move as a custom-built boring machine tunnels alongside the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. Travelers funneling through the existing HRBT may not notice the adjacent construction just on the other side of the tunnel wall. Cargo ships and Navy vessels, carrying thousands of containers and sailors, may pass over the project’s construction completely undisturbed. And that’s the way Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization officials want it to stay. “It’s something we’re really proud of,” said Robert Crum, executive director for the...

Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday that Virginia has selected a contractor to build two new tunnels and widen a major highway in Hampton Roads. The $3.3 billion price tag — funded by regional gas and sales taxes, tolls and other sources — makes it one of the two biggest transportation projects in commonwealth history. Northam (D) touted the deal, saying he is “proud of the hard work and negotiations that have taken place over this past year,” and state Sen. Frank W. Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) in return offered praise for the embattled governor. “I want to personally thank Governor Northam...

INDIANAPOLIS — A recent state study found that if the state’s interstates were made into toll roads, they could generate between $39 billion and $53 billion over 30 years. But it’s unlikely that all of Indiana’s interstates would be made into toll roads, State Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper, said Friday morning. He especially doubts that Interstate 64 or Interstate 69 from Evansville to Indianapolis would be converted. “The only way you can put a toll on a road is if you upped the capacity of the road,” he said. “If you widen the bridges or increased the number of lanes,...

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne on Wednesday discussed a plan to ease congestion in Hampton Roads — but it comes with a cost to some. In October, the Commonwealth Transportation Board voted to allow VDOT to convert eight miles of HOV lanes on I-64 into toll lanes. The conversion to high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes or express lanes will impact the stretch of I-64 from the I-264 interchange up to Interstate 564. Solo drivers will be able to use the lanes for the first time during peak hours, but they will have to pay a...

Virginia will increase speed limits to 70 mph on 680 miles of interstates by the end of the year. Gov. Robert F. McDonnell announced the change Wednesday. It will affect interstates located in areas that are rural or less populated. It includes segments of Interstate 66, from Faquier County to Interstate 81 and Interstate 95 from south of Fredricksburg to Ashland and from Prince George County to the North Carolina border. The Virginia Department of Transportation outlined the plan at a meeting of the Commonwealth Transportation Board on Wednesday. State officials said in a statement that the change should help...

A Virginia highway official is recommending the state raise the speed limit on most interstates to 70 mph by year’s end. That would include nearly all of Interstate 81 in Virginia, except for major urban areas including the stretch between Christiansburg and Roanoke, and parts of I-64, I-66, I-85 and I-95. Connie Sorrell, chief of system operations at the Virginia Department of Transportation, said this afternoon that she will brief the Commonwealth Transportation Board on her recommendation Wednesday. Sorrell said she recommends the higher limit for “areas that we felt could be operated safety at 70 miles per hour.” Sorrell...

At least one person has been arrested in connection with a shooting spree along Interstate 64, a police source told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The news came shortly after a search warrant was served at a house in Crozet, Va., Friday in the case.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Authorities arrested a suspect early Friday in a series of highway shootings after storming a farm and firing at a man who met them with a handgun, police said. Slade Allen Woodson, 19, of Afton was charged in separate shootings at a home and a credit union early Thursday, police said. He was not charged with firing shots along a rural stretch of Interstate 64, but authorities said he was considered a suspect and more charges were possible. "We've taken some mighty big steps toward the resolution of this," State Police Superintendent Steven Flaherty said at a...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Interstate 64 has been reopened between Charlottesville and Waynesboro, but a 20-mile section of the highway was closed Thursday morning as Virginia State Police searched for a shooting suspect. State police say at least four cars were struck by bullets along an 11-mile stretch of the highway Wednesday night

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- State police say a sniper wounded two people and hit at least four cars on Interstate 64 near Afton Mountain this morning. The injuries were not life-threatening and the victims were treated and released from Augusta Medical Center. More than 20 miles of I-64 was closed between Charlottesville and Waynesboro from shortly after midnight until about 6:20 a.m. State troopers, Charlottesville police and Albemarle County deputies are searching wooded areas along the interstate, but no suspect has been found.