Interstate 264 (I-264) is an
Interstate Highway
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
in the
US state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. It serves as the primary east–west highway through the
South Hampton Roads
South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia's Tidewater region in the United States with a total population of 1,177,742 as of 2020. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA ( M ...
region in southeastern Virginia. The route connects the central business districts of
Chesapeake,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
,
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
, and
Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...
and serves as the most direct link between those cities and the resort beaches along Virginia's Atlantic coast.
It runs from a junction with
I-64 and
I-664 (
Hampton Roads Beltway
The Hampton Roads Beltway is a loop of Interstate 64 and Interstate 664, which links the communities of the Virginia Peninsula and South Hampton Roads which surround the body of water known as Hampton Roads and comprise much of the region o ...
) near
Bower's Hill
Bower's Hill is a community located in the independent city of Chesapeake, Virginia (formerly Norfolk County) in the United States. It is located in the South Hampton Roads region at the northeastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp, an area ...
in
Chesapeake east into Portsmouth and through the
Downtown Tunnel under the
Southern Branch Elizabeth River into Norfolk. At the
I-464 interchange in the
Berkley section of Norfolk, I-264 turns north, crossing the
Eastern Branch Elizabeth River into
Downtown Norfolk on the
Berkley Bridge, one of
a small number of drawbridges on the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
. I-264 then heads east through Norfolk, crossing I-64 at the east side of the
Hampton Roads Beltway
The Hampton Roads Beltway is a loop of Interstate 64 and Interstate 664, which links the communities of the Virginia Peninsula and South Hampton Roads which surround the body of water known as Hampton Roads and comprise much of the region o ...
and into Virginia Beach, where it ends at Parks Avenue just short of the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. From this point, 21st and 22nd streets continue as a
oneway pair with no route designation to
U.S. Route 60 (US 60, Pacific Avenue).
The original section of I-264, designated in the late 1950s, lies between the two I-64 junctions. The piece east to the Virginia Beach waterfront was built as the Virginia Beach–Norfolk Expressway (a
toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...
until 1995) and carried State Route 44 (SR 44) until I-264 was extended over it in 1999.
When I-64 was augmented in the 1990s with reversible
HOV
A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and at least one passenger, ...
lanes, I-264 toward Virginia Beach (then SR 44) was designated as the eastern terminus of the
reversible lane
A reversible lane, also known as variable lane, dynamic lane, and tidal flow, is a managed lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, b ...
s and one of the few direct exits from/entrances to the HOV lanes.
I-264 is a part of the
National Highway System for its entire length.
A toll for use of the Downtown Tunnel began February 1, 2014. Tolls are collected electronically and () set at $2.20 during peak hours and $1.79 during offpeak hours for
E-ZPass users.
Route description
I-264 begins at a
full Y interchange in the
Bower's Hill
Bower's Hill is a community located in the independent city of Chesapeake, Virginia (formerly Norfolk County) in the United States. It is located in the South Hampton Roads region at the northeastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp, an area ...
area of the city of Chesapeake. This interchange also serves as the eastern terminus of I-64 and the southern terminus of I-664, which together comprise the
Hampton Roads Beltway
The Hampton Roads Beltway is a loop of Interstate 64 and Interstate 664, which links the communities of the Virginia Peninsula and South Hampton Roads which surround the body of water known as Hampton Roads and comprise much of the region o ...
. I-664 is used to access
US 13,
US 58, and
US 460, which all head west toward
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
. I-264 heads northeast as a four-lane freeway into the city of Portsmouth, where the highway meets Greenwood Drive at a
cloverleaf interchange
A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passe ...
and
SR 239 (Victory Boulevard) at a
diamond interchange
A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road.
Design
The freeway itself is grade separation, grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. ...
where the Interstate expands to six lanes. The Interstate Highway begins an
unsigned concurrency with
U.S. Route 460 Alternate (US 460 Alt.) at a partial interchange with
SR 337 (Portsmouth Boulevard), which allows access between I-264 toward Chesapeake and SR 337 toward Norfolk and between SR 337 toward Chesapeake and I-264 toward Norfolk. I-264 continues east through a
partial cloverleaf interchange
A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange.
The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...
with
US 17 (Frederick Boulevard). A partial junction with Des Moines Avenue allowed access to and from the west,
but, since November 2013, access to Des Moines Avenue has been permanently closed for construction of the Martin Luther King Freeway interchange. (, traffic can still reach westbound I-264 from this junction, but that is expected to close later in the year.)
I-264's final interchange in Portsmouth provides access to
SR 141 (Effingham Street) in downtown Portsmouth; westbound I-264 traffic has ramps to and from Bart Street. This interchange, which also serves the
Norfolk Naval Shipyard
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility ...
, is where the Interstate reduces to four lanes and descends into the Downtown Tunnel under the
Southern Branch Elizabeth River. I-264 surfaces in the city of Norfolk and immediately has an interchange with I-464, which heads south toward Chesapeake. The I-464 interchange also provides access to Berkley Avenue in the Berkley section of Norfolk. I-264 curves north as an eight-lane highway that crosses the
Eastern Branch Elizabeth River on a drawbridge. At the north end of the drawbridge, the two directions of the Interstate temporarily split and have a series of ramps to Waterside Drive, St. Paul's Boulevard, City Hall Avenue, and Tidewater Drive at the eastern end of Downtown Norfolk. These streets provide access to
Harbor Park, a baseball stadium that is home to the
Norfolk Tides
The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's loc ...
,
and the
Norfolk station for
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
service to routes along the northern
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
corridor.
I-264 continues east as an eight-lane freeway between the Eastern Branch Elizabeth River to the south and
Hampton Roads Transit's
Tide Light Rail tracks to the north. The Interstate has an interchange with US 460,
SR 166, and
SR 168, which head northwest toward Downtown Norfolk as Brambleton Avenue and south across the river as Campostella Road. There is no access between Brambleton Avenue and I-264 toward downtown. East of US 460, the freeway passes to the south of
Norfolk State University
Norfolk State University (NSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnersh ...
and has a diamond interchange with
SR 405 (Ballentine Boulevard). I-264 crosses Broad Creek and gains
collector–distributor lanes for the next three, closely-spaced interchanges. These junctions include a cloverleaf interchange with US 13 (Military Highway), a cloverleaf interchange with several flyover ramps at I-64 (Hampton Roads Beltway), and a partial cloverleaf interchange with
SR 403 (Newtown Road). The middle carriageway of I-64 headed north, which has two HOV lanes, merges with both directions of I-264 heading east. I-264 enters the city of Virginia Beach at the Newtown Road interchange.
I-264 continues east as the Virginia Beach Expressway, an eight-lane freeway where the innermost lane in each direction is an HOV lane. The first two interchanges in Virginia Beach, a partial cloverleaf junction with
SR 190 (Witchduck Road) and a cloverleaf interchange with
SR 225 (Independence Boulevard), serve the
Pembroke Manor area, which is the central business district of the city. Independence Boulevard also leads southeast toward
Mount Trashmore Park, a reused landfill that is visible from the freeway, and further on toward the
Virginia Beach Amphitheater and eventually the city's government center at
Princess Anne
Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...
. I-264 next has a partial cloverleaf interchange with Rosemont Road and a cloverleaf interchange with Lynnhaven Parkway, which leads to the
Lynnhaven Mall. The Interstate crosses London Bridge Creek, a tributary of the
Lynnhaven River
The Lynnhaven River is a tidal estuary located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States, and flows into the Chesapeake Bay west of Cape Henry at Lynnhaven Inlet, beyond which is Lynnhave ...
, ahead of a partial interchange with London Bridge Road (also providing access to Great Neck Road) and then a crossover interchange that connects the freeway toward Norfolk with US 58 (Laskin Road) and
U.S. Route 58 Business (US 58 Bus., Virginia Beach Boulevard) toward the oceanfront. I-264's HOV lanes end and the highway reduces to six lanes ahead of the interchange with First Colonial Road north of
Naval Air Station Oceana
Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The station is located on 23.9 square kilometers. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mi ...
. The Interstate crosses Great Neck Creek and has its final interchange, a partial interchange with Bird Neck Road that provides an alternative route to the oceanfront, before approaching its eastern terminus at Parks Avenue just north of the
Virginia Beach Convention Center. The carriageways continue east as a oneway pair, 21st Street eastbound and 22nd Street westbound, east to US 60 (Pacific Avenue) and Atlantic Avenue at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
History
Original I-264
Originally, in 1960, I-264 was planned as an
Interstate Highway
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
through
Downtown Norfolk.
Virginia Beach Expressway
The Virginia Beach Expressway (also known as the Virginia Beach–Norfolk Expressway) was a limited-access highway built to
Interstate Highway
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
standards extending between the
independent cities of
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
and
Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...
, Virginia. Until 1999, it was signed as State Route 44 (SR 44).
Built and funded with
toll revenue bonds, it opened on December 1, 1967, as SR 44. The expressway ran from an interchange with
I-64 and I-264 in Norfolk almost due east to the oceanfront area of Virginia Beach. The original road had four lanes (two each way). It was widened to six lanes in the 1980s and to eight lanes in the early 1990s.
. Technical errors were common; alarms installed to alert police of a nonpaying motorist would often be activated by the machine's failure to detect the insertion of the proper toll.
On June 1, 1995, the bonds were retired, and tolls and toll booths were removed in 1996. In July 1999, the former Virginia Beach Expressway was renumbered to I-264, effectively creating an eastward continuation of the original I-264, which ran through the downtown areas of Portsmouth and Norfolk and ended at I-64 (where the expressway began). This is now the point where I-264 intersects and crosses the I-64 portion of the
Hampton Roads Beltway
The Hampton Roads Beltway is a loop of Interstate 64 and Interstate 664, which links the communities of the Virginia Peninsula and South Hampton Roads which surround the body of water known as Hampton Roads and comprise much of the region o ...
near
Military Circle Mall in Norfolk.
Exit list
See also
*
Norfolk-Portsmouth Bridge-Tunnel
**
Berkley Bridge
**
Downtown Tunnel
References
External links
Virginia Highways Project: I-264
{{Authority control
64-2
64-2 Virginia
Interstate 264
Interstate 264
Interstate 264
Interstate 264
History of Virginia Beach, Virginia
2 (Virginia)