Hampton Roads Express Lanes: Improving Safety and Mobility on I-64

To advance a safer, more reliable Express Lanes network in Hampton Roads, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) needed a comprehensive plan that could coordinate construction, operations, safety, and incident response across the I-64 corridor. In coordination with VDOT and regional partners, Kimley-Horn developed and is supporting the implementation of the Hampton Roads Express Lanes (HREL) Transportation Management Plan (TMP) to improve traffic operations and manage construction impacts. The multi-phased HREL program includes improvements to implement express lanes across different I-64 segments. The TMP established an organizational framework and identified strategies to mitigate construction-related impacts—paving the way to enhance mobility and improve safety across the Hampton Roads District in Virginia. As the project’s engineering consultant, Kimley-Horn is providing programmatic and technical support to evaluate traffic operations and advance more than twenty mitigation strategies.

Analyzing Traffic Operations and Impacts Across the I-64 Corridor

VDOT, the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission, and Kimley-Horn first collaborated to conduct a study on I-64’s operations during 2025—and when the major network improvement projects, including future operations potential system Express Lanes, are completed in 2045. The HREL Network Study-System Operational Analysis evaluated how a proposed continuous managed lanes system could operate along the I-64 Hampton Roads Beltway. The study covered a 44-mile corridor, including interstate facilities, ramp termini, and adjacent arterial intersections. Furthermore, the study:

• Evaluated the operational performance of General Purpose Lanes, High Occupancy Toll Lanes, and High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes between two regional network scenarios
• Clarified access and transition points for the proposed managed lanes
• Identified operational challenges associated with a regional network of connected managed lane projects

These insights gave VDOT a clearer basis for evaluating how future express lane connections could affect traffic flow, weaving, safety, and regional access.

Assessing Arterial and Interchange Impacts Across the Region

The Kimley-Horn team also conducted contiguous studies for the VDOT District office, such as the Arterial Operational impact study for the City of Norfolk and the City of Hampton, the I-64/I-464 interchange operations analysis, and a high-resolution fly-through simulation of the corridor to help the respective Cities understand the capacity and queuing impacts of the HREL project on their arterial network.

The I-64/664 interchange was identified as a long-term congestion hotspot, and Kimley-Horn prepared an Interchange Access Report for VDOT, which included: creating conceptual cost estimates for each alternative and a 3D model to depict project impacts; using data to identify origin-destination patterns to accurately evaluate weaving for each alternative; and conducting a multi-modal traffic operations and safety analysis to develop a preferred alternative that addressed the project objective.

Supporting VDOT with Integrated Design, Operations, and Incident Response 

In addition, Kimley-Horn supported VDOT to not only develop a conceptual design for the corridor, but also to:

• Optimize the ingress/egress locations
• Identify the tolling segments
• Develop conceptual level cost estimates
• Conduct a detailed safety analysis
• Develop a regional TMP
• Coordinate with the Federal Highway Administration to receive approvals for the project as well as design exceptions and design waivers

To help VDOT coordinate across jurisdictions, Kimley-Horn supported the development and implementation of the Incident Response Plans and Decision Support Tool (IRP-DSS) strategy. Our team worked with the VDOT Traffic Operations Center and local municipalities to develop regionally coordinated response and detour plans to ensure optimum capacity and flow of traffic during construction and incidents. We also reviewed and integrated all Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) devices, arterial signal systems, and detour and evacuation plans into one regional TMP plan. The tool helped VDOT and regional partners coordinate detour decisions, incident response, and construction-related traffic management from a shared operational framework.

Delivering Safer, More Reliable Regional Mobility

By modernizing this vital corridor, VDOT is advancing a safer, more reliable Express Lanes network that supports regional mobility across Hampton Roads. With Kimley-Horn’s programmatic and technical support, the HREL TMP provides coordinated strategies, operational insight, and the stakeholder alignment needed to manage construction impacts and keep the region moving.