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Transportation secretary updates subcommittee on I‑81 corridor, I‑64 gap and HRBT expansion projects
Summary
Shep Miller told the Transportation and Public Safety Subcommittee that the I‑81 corridor program now totals roughly $360 million in planned work, the I‑64 gap is being widened in three segments with work underway and phased completions, and that the Hampton Roads Bridge‑Tunnel expansion remains the Commonwealth’s largest construction effort.
Shep Miller, Virginia secretary of transportation, briefed the Transportation and Public Safety Subcommittee on the status and scale of three major highway initiatives: the I‑81 corridor improvement program, the I‑64 gap‑closing project and the Hampton Roads Bridge‑Tunnel (HRBT) expansion.
Miller said the I‑81 corridor program, launched in 2019, now has an assembled portfolio with a current program value he cited as approximately $360 million and 65 projects in the plan. He said the program receives more than $200 million annually in dedicated funding sources and that additional tranches of funding from the General Assembly were applied in recent budgets. Miller said fewer than 10% of program dollars have been spent to date because most funds are tied to design and larger capital work; several small technology and short-duration projects have been completed.
On Interstate 64, Miller described a three‑segment construction approach to close a long‑running capacity gap and said work is well underway: he described 10.7 miles widened on the west end with anticipated completion of that contract in 2027, a nine‑mile eastern segment begun in November 2024 also targeting 2027 completion, and a 9.3‑mile middle segment contracted with completion currently estimated in 2029. Miller described the contracting approach — sequencing adjacent segments to leverage contractor mobilization — as a factor that produced competitive bids.
Miller called the HRBT expansion “the largest VDOT project in Virginia history,” and described the program as a capacity doubling that will ultimately provide eight lanes by replacing and rebuilding bridges and adding two new two‑lane tunnels. He said the tunneling element is the most complex portion of the project and reported that a tunnel‑boring machine completed its first pass and was being turned and re‑prepared to bore again; Miller said tunnel boring progress is a critical path item and was expected to be in substantial progress by 2025, though the overall program is modestly delayed from original schedules.
Miller told the subcommittee the projects create local disruption from construction and noted the department’s efforts to limit long stretches of simultaneous work and to find synergies that saved about $70 million by grouping adjacent work. “It’s gotta get worse before it gets better,” Miller said, describing congestion generated by construction activity as a necessary byproduct of major corridor upgrades.
The transcript records questions from legislators about schedules, costs and community impacts. Miller characterized the delivery pace as fast given weather conditions and contractor performance and said the Commonwealth Transportation Board directed four additional projects for I‑81 that are being reevaluated and added to the corridor plan. No formal votes on these project allocations are recorded in the transcript.
