Study: Extra lanes, third crossing will ease region's traffic

If nothing is done to relieve growing congestion crossing the Hampton Roads harbor, traffic at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel will swamp its capacity.

A new analysis by Old Dominion University's Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center shows that in 2030, traffic demand will be 50 percent greater than the tunnel was designed to handle during peak travel times.

Mike Robinson, the center's senior project scientist, analyzed the impact of several proposed road projects on congestion at the busy crossing, at the request of a General Assembly subcommittee.

He concluded that adding two lanes or more to the bridge-tunnel and building a third bridge-tunnel between South Hampton Roads and the Peninsula would offer significant improvement to congestion at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

The third crossing would include building a new bridge between Norfolk International Terminals and Interstate 664 and a parallel bridge and tunnel to the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel.

The two combined would result in traffic levels about 8 percent less than capacity in 2030, Robinson said.

He presented the findings to the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Planning Organization last week.

Dwight Farmer, executive director of the planning agency, said the study's conclusions will shape conversations about crossing projects.

"If you really want to do this right, you really need to look at both alternatives," he said.

Discussions have tended to focus on just one crossing project, he said.

A 1997 study concluded that the $4.2 billion third crossing offered the best all-around solution to transportation woes between the Peninsula and South Hampton Roads. Recently, there's been a renewed interest in expanding the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

Last month local leaders had an unprecedented meeting with state legislators to review the results of a state report examining six proposed alternatives to widen the bridge-tunnel. Four would add tunnels and two would add bridges at construction costs ranging from $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion, not including design and right-of-way expenses.

The Virginia Department of Transportation's consultant, however, concluded that two-lane options would do little to relieve congestion.

The ODU study showed that adding just two lanes would bring traffic levels to below capacity when paired with a third crossing, which regional leaders said is important for connecting the ports and spreading traffic across the interstate network.

The third crossing is one of six regional transportation priorities set by the metropolitan planning group that have a total cost of $10 billion. Widening the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel is not on that list but was resurrected by Peninsula leaders last year.

There's no money to build any of the projects.

The Hampton Roads Transportation Authority was created by the General Assembly in 2007 to levy a series of taxes to help finance the six projects. But the Virginia Supreme Court ruled last year that it's unconstitutional for a nonelected body to tax.

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com