Ever since VDOT changed the EXIT 1B sign from EAST I-64 to DOWNTOWN HAMPTON in the late 90's, it has been an issue that has irritated me from the first time I had ever seen it. It is posting that downtown Hampton is more important than I-64 east. It just plain looks unprofessional. DOWNTOWN HAMPTON should be on an auxiliary sign just before that particular interchange or it could be on a LGS in place of the EAST I-64 on the gantry in the second picture.
It's a wonder the airport sign wasn't slapped over the WEST I-64 part of the EXIT 1A BGS and a trailblazer put in place of the airport sign. I guess then it would have made the gantry look a little more "balanced".
By the way, those are excellent photographs. I really like the first one--a simple, elegant sign.