Its northern terminus is at a junction with
Interstate 64 on the
Virginia Peninsula in
Hampton, Virginia . Its southern terminus is at an intersection with
Interstate 264 and
Interstate 64 in
Chesapeake, Virginia near
Bower's Hill .
Interstate 664 in the
Hampton Roads area is a bypass section of
Interstate 64 which connects the
Virginia Peninsula to the western side of
Chesapeake, Virginia (and to the eastern terminus of I-64). I-664 is about 14 miles shorter than the bypassed main leg.
I-664 was not an original part of the National Interstate System authorized in 1956. It was part of the 1,500 miles that were added in 1968. One of the more recent portions of the
Interstate Highway system to be built in Virginia, I-664 was completed in April 1992. I-664 includes the 4.6-mile-long
Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel across Hampton Roads between the independent cities of
Newport News and
Suffolk .
The eastern terminus of I-64 is ''not'' geographically the road's easternmost point. After crossing
Hampton Roads and entering
Norfolk , the road makes a wide loop toward
Virginia Beach and through that city's northwest side. The road then curves toward its final destination on the west side of
Chesapeake ; by the time it enters Chesapeake, I-64 East actually runs westward to reach its terminus in an area known as Bower's Hill. At Bower's Hill, I-64 east ends. There, it joins both the western end of I-264, (which itself is both a bypass ''and'' spur of I-64), and the eastern terminus of I-664.
This can of course, be very confusing, which was one of the factors which led to the designation of portions of I-64 (and all of I-664) as the Inner and Outer loops of the Hampton Roads Beltway.
In combination, I-664 and I-64 essentially form a beltway in the Hampton Roads area. In January 1997, the 56-mile-long I-64/I-664 loop was designated and signed as the
Hampton Roads Beltway . I-64 makes a huge arc around Norfolk and Portsmouth. The beltway has the clockwise direction (as looking down at a map of the area) signed as the Inner Loop, and the counter-clockwise direction signed as the Outer Loop.
A major aspect of the Interstate Highway system in the Hampton Roads area are the 2 bridge-tunnels which each cross the harbor of Hampton Roads.
The
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) is the 3.5-mile-long Hampton Roads crossing for Interstate 64. It is comprised of bridge trestles, artificial islands, and tunnels under the main shipping channels for Hampton Roads harbor. It connects the independent cities of
Hampton and
Norfolk .
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel has two 12-foot-wide lanes each way, on separately built structures. The original two-lane structure replaced a ferry system and opened November 1, 1957 at a cost of $44 million dollars.
The construction of the original Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel was funded with toll revenue bonds. The bonds were paid off before the second portion was opened.
The construction of the $95 million 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% FHWA funds from the Highway Trust Fund and 10% state DOT funds.
When the second span was opened to traffic in 1976, the tolls were removed.
The I-64 Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel has two artificial tunnel portal islands, at the place where Hampton Roads flows into Chesapeake Bay. The two artificial tunnel portal islands were widened to the west to accommodate the parallel bridge-tunnel project 1972-1976.
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel south portal island actually does connect to some preexisting land, about 20 acres (80,000 m&
2) of land that is the site of Fort Wool, a fort during the Civil War, World War I and World War II, and a public park since 1970. Fort Wool is on an artificial island known as Rip-Raps, created beginning in 1818, which was pre-existing land when the HRBT south tunnel portal island was built 1954-1957, with a small earthen causeway that connects Fort Wool to the HRBT south portal island.
Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (MMMBT) is the 4.6 mile-long Hampton Roads crossing for Interstate 664. It is comprised of bridge trestles, artificial islands, and tunnels under the main shipping channels for Hampton Roads harbor. It connects the independent cities of
Newport News and
Suffolk .
The MMMBT cost $400 million to build, and it includes a four-lane tunnel that is 4,800 feet long, two artificial portal islands, and 3.2 miles of twin trestle. It is named for the two
Ironclad Warships which engaged in the famous
Battle Of Hampton Roads on
March 8 -
9 ,
1862 during the
US Civil War . The battle took place between the
USS Monitor and the
CSS ''Virginia'' . The latter ship had been rebuilt from the wreck of the
USS ''Merrimack'' . The site of the battle was within approximately 1 mile of the current bridge-tunnel's location.
- 2005 Rand McNally "The Road Atlas 2005" - newest feature- interstate mileage by state
