The Midtown Tunnel crosses the main channel of the Elizabeth River in the South Hampton Roads area. It links the independent City of Portsmouth with the independent City of Norfolk. It carries U.S. Highway 460 and is a toll-free facility. The Elizabeth River is a short tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States. ... South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States. ... Portsmouth (pronounced Port-smith) is an independent city located in Virginia. ... Norfolk is a city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. ... U.S. Highway 460 is a spur of U.S. Highway 60. ...
History
The two-lane Midtown Tunnel was completed in 1958, supplementing the Downtown Tunnel and the Berkley Bridge. It was the second fixed crossing directly between Portsmouth and Norfolk across the Elizabeth River. It financed with toll revenue bonds. In 1988 and 1989, during an expansion of I-264 , the Downtown Tunnel and the Berkley Bridge were rebuilt and expanded. Tolls were also removed. The interchange with I-464 at the eastern end of the tunnel at the Berkley Bridge was added in 1991. The Downtown Tunnel on Interstate 264 crosses the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River in the South Hampton Roads area. ... The Berkley Bridge on Interstate 264 crosses the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the South Hampton Roads area. ... A toll revenue bond is a financial promissory note usually issued to generate funds for the construction and/or operation of a public accommodation such as an expressway, bridge, or tunnel. ... Interstate 264 is an unusual 3-digit interstate that contains both a bypass and a spur off Interstate 64 in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. ...
2003: Hurricane Isabel
In September, 2003, the Midtown Tunnel was seriously damaged by Hurricane Isabel. The facility is equipped with floodgates designed for closure to protect it from flooding during extreme weather conditions such as East Coast hurricanes. Managers of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) failed to act quickly enough, and the Midtown Tunnel was closed for an extended period, causing traffic problems in the weeks following the disaster. Hurricane Isabel was a major hurricane of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season which made landfall on September 18, 2003 just south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina around 1:00 PM eastern time. ... The Virginia Department of Transportation, or VDOT, is the government agency responsible for building, maintaining and operating Virginias roads, bridges and tunnels. ...
VDOT revamped its operating procedures at all of its tunnels in the wake of the incident. Studies of additional harbor crossings have also gained additional attention since then.
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