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Chesapeake Expressway/Virginia 168 (Corridor 25)
Routing
The route of the Chesapeake Expressway, or Corridor 25, is Virginia State Route 168 (South Battlefield Blvd.) from Norfolk south to the North Carolina State Line. This corridor will serve traffic between the Norfolk area and the North Carolina coastline, including the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Corridor 25 will probably not link directly with Corridor 13, as Corridor 13 (U.S. 64, U.S. 13, and U.S. 17) will serve the direct connection between Raleigh and Norfolk.
Corridor 25 follows Virginia 168 through the following segments:
- Oak Grove Connector - limited access road from Interstate 64/southern terminus of Interstate 464 to the Great Bridge bypass; completed July 1999
- Great Bridge Bypass - already in place prior to High Priority designation
- Chesapeake Expressway - from southern end of Great Bridge Bypass to North Carolina Border
According to Scott Kozel, in May 1999, the northbound roadway of the two and one-half mile-long Oak Grove Connector in Chesapeake opened, and on July 22, the southbound roadway opened. This basically extends the Interstate 464 expressway from the Interstate 64/Interstate 464 interchange to the north end of the Virginia 168 Great Bridge Bypass, forming a continuous Interstate 464/Virginia 168 expressway. The Oak Grove Connector will bypass congested Battlefield Boulevard. With the completion of this project and the aforementioned Chesapeake Expressway, a continuous north-south expressway will be in place from downtown Norfolk to the North Carolina border.
Parts of Virginia 168 are freeway grade (the Great Bridge bypass), but the remainder seems to be a surface arterial. In July 1999, after a long series of delays, construction began on the Virginia 168 expressway extension from the south end of the Virginia 168 Great Bridge Bypass to the North Carolina border. This four-lane highway will bypass the congested two-lane Virginia 168, which will provide improved local traffic as well as improved access from the Hampton Roads area to the North Carolina beach resorts. The new expressway is planned to be a toll highway, as tax and other funding was insufficient to allow for immediate construction of the expressway.
The road, which is ten miles long, will cost $116 million to build. According to an article dated July 12, 1999, in the The Virginian-Pilot, this is "the most expensive, long-awaited and at times controversial project in the [Chesapeake] city's history." Plans call for the Chesapeake Expressway toll road to be completed by April 2001. Tolls are expected to cost approximately $0.50 per trip.
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For more information, check out the following The Virginian-Pilot articles, "Battlefield Boulevard Gets Relief" (July 12, 1999) and "Work begins on long-sought Chesapeake Expressway" (July 13, 1999).
By Winter 2001, the Toll Plaza was completed and associated "Toll Rate" signage is now installed along the Chesapeake Expressway to the east of current Virginia 168. The southernmost two miles of the project include four laning Virginia 168, with two signalized intersections. It appears that traffic will have to turn at the intersection with Gallbush Road to avoid paying the $2.00 toll. To entice commuters, they will be offered 50 cent tolls based on pre-packaged toll accounts through the SMARTTAG system (similar to FASTRACK or EZPASS).
The interchange with current Virginia 168 south of Indian Creek Road just near the toll plaza is nearing completion. At that time, bridge work was still well underway at the merge between the Great Bridge Bypass and the new expressway (as shown in the above vidcap). The road opened around Memorial Day 2001, in advance of the busy summer season.
North Carolina 168
Although not part of the high priority corridor, North Carolina 168 is the southbound continuation of the Chesapeake Expressway leading to the Outer Banks. This highway has been four-lane (with a center turn lane) since the mid-1990s from the Virginia-North Carolina State Line south to U.S. 158 and the Outer Banks. With the completion of the Chesapeake Expressway (planned for Spring 2001), Route 168 will provide a fast connection between Norfolk and the Outer Banks.
Page Updated June 9, 2002.
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