Planners say HOT lanes could cut Settlers Landing–564 trip by about 17 minutes

Bob Crum, executive director of the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, and Christopher Hall, district administrator for the Virginia Department of Transportation's Hampton Roads district, briefed the Hampton City Council on proposed high‑occupancy toll (HOT) lanes for Interstate 64.

Crum told the council the region is comparing two futures: one with only free general‑purpose lanes and one with a managed HOT network. "What we're finding is... that trip we can guarantee in the hot lane a 12 minute trip again at 45 miles an hour," Crum said, summarizing travel‑time modeling for a typical eastbound peak run between Settlers Landing and 564. He added the HOT scenario would increase use of existing pavement and preserve a reliable free‑flow trip around the Bowers Hill loop that the region values.

VDOT's Chris Hall walked the council through corridor cross sections and micro‑simulation graphics showing how the peninsula and the Hampton Roads Bridge‑Tunnel (HRBT) area would perform in 2025 and beyond under the proposed configuration. Hall described a plan to convert the existing HOV‑2 lane to an HOT‑2 facility on the peninsula with a mix of bollard‑separated and open sections and targeted widening near LaSalle/King Street to create a four‑lane profile through the Settlers Landing/HRBT choke point. "Essentially we would convert the current HOV 2 facility to an HOT 2 facility, and that would run from Jefferson all the way down to where those current HOV lanes end right around the Mercury Interchange," Hall said.

Council members pressed on local impacts. Presentations and the modeling team said the HOT network, as modeled, would not induce the cut‑through traffic on Hampton arterials that some residents fear, and that the bus service would be able to use managed lanes to improve transit speed and reliability. Planners noted several right‑of‑way constraints inside Hampton — including the Hampton University area, Emancipation Oak and a local cemetery on the peninsula, Willoughby Spit on the south side, and military property — that limit where widening is feasible. Staff also said tolling regimes (including possible weekend tolling to shift some costs to visitors) and operating hours remain open policy decisions for the regional TPO and HR T/AC to determine.

The briefing was informational and required no council vote. TPO staff said the region expects to endorse an express‑lane option by the end of the year and that HR T/AC and VDOT will work on a comprehensive towing and operations agreement related to the HRBT project.

Sources: Presentation by Bob Crum (Hampton Roads TPO) and Christopher Hall (VDOT), briefing to Hampton City Council.