Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnels — Local services in Hampton

Update: 18 Jan 24. Took me an hour and a half to get to work this morning for what was reported to be a stalled vehicle in the West bound tunnel. The expansion of the HRBT is now a year behind schedule and will probably be more than that before it is done. What frustrates me the most is the fact VDOT and the HRBT have never improved or shown an interest in keeping traffic flowing moving during morning and afternoon rush hours. 100s if not 1000s of commuters are just stuck day after day wasting gas for organizations that show there incompetence on a daily basis. I read all the time how local governments want to attract more companies to the district. Why would any company want to move here knowing traffic is a mess on a daily basis? On top of that local government's and news do not seem interested in taking VDOT or the HRBT to task on these regular traffic back ups. We the commuters are just expected to accept incompetence and miles long back ups. That is unacceptable. Also the VDOT 511 app is useless. Message section has not worked for almost a year, map is basic at best, and the voice updates provide little information. What VDOT and HRBT is really skilled at are throwing up cones to make traffic worse and shut down the tunnels on a whim, and always at rush hours. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!

HRBT is a complete and utter disaster! Every morning traffic is backed up and very afternoon it's twice as bad (both directions). Throw in an accident or broke down vehicle and your commute time is doubled (easy). What does the HRBT do? Nothing! More often than not they make the situation worse. As long as the tunnel has been open they still can't keep traffic moving and clear accidents/disabled vehicle in a timely manner. Waited 45 minutes once for the to clear geese out of the tunnel! But hey, they are going to widen the tunnel! We all just need to wait until 2025 for a fix that should have been done decades ago. I bet when/if they are done it will be too little too late, and change nothing!

So new issue. Idiots have decided they don't want to wait in traffic and are driving on shoulder on 64 W/E. Especially in the afternoon. Of course State Police are know where to be found until you get through bottleneck at HRBT and there they are are sitting in middle of highway reading a book or something. Also last two weeks back ups of 10 miles! All this time and they still can't clear a disabled vehicle without shutting down all lanes of traffic! Between VASP, VDOT, and HRBT a commuter just gets screwed on a daily basis. But hey...

Look. I get why the reviews are so poor on this tunnel. But they are entirely misguided. The traffic is not a fault of this tunnel’s design. The fault lies with the lack of planning, foresight, and alternate routes created by the government at all levels.

Considering how old these tunnels are, this feet of engineering should be lauded for its longevity and reliability.

Also, if you’re complaining about the traffic, chances are you put yourself in that situation. You moved to a location that required you to utilize this tunnel. That’s on you (or your employer,) not the city or state. You knowingly put yourself in a situation that yielded to you sitting in traffic in order to cross the bay. Whine all you want, you had it coming.

Also, widening is needed; but will NOT alleviate the traffic so long as the irresponsible planning and growth patterns continue in Hampton and Newport News. The traffic is only going to get worse, widening or not. If you want it to stop, stop building housing and start building infrastructure and employment centers that your residents can work at without crossing the bay...

End rant!

Side note, how terrifyingly close are the tops of tractor trailers to the ceiling in...

It's certainly a love it or hate it can't live without it kinda spot for Hampton Roads. When I first moved here, I thought it was because it was underwater that maybe you'd be able to tell it's underwater based on just the description of the tunnel by my husband. I was disappointed to find out it looks like a regular two lane tunnel. If you're driving through it, definitely time your drive and leave like 30 minutes early if you have an appointment or need to be there on time. You never know what could happen. If you take the express lane, you can get a ticket if you don't have an EZ pass. There is 1 HOV lane and I'd consider it to be a scenic drive because you pass over a lot of bridges over water before you get to the bridge. When you make it over without traffic give thanks by doing a random act of kindness because everyone I know who has to do a daily commute has to leave early. I did get stuck in the tunnel once on the 4th of July in the middle of traffic and they were so quick to help us out and get traffic flowing again. Like a tunnel, it gets the job done. Can't wait for the construction...