Interstate 264 (I-264) is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Virginia. It serves as the primary east–west highway through the South Hampton Roads region in southeastern Virginia. The route connects the central business districts of Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach and serves as the most direct link between those cities and the resort beaches along Virginia's Atlantic coast.

It runs from a junction with I-64 and I-664 (Hampton Roads Beltway) near Bower's Hill in Chesapeake east into Portsmouth and through the Downtown Tunnel under the Southern Branch Elizabeth River into Norfolk. At the I-464 interchange in the Berkley section of Norfolk, I-264 turns north, crossing the Eastern Branch Elizabeth River into Downtown Norfolk on the Berkley Bridge, one of a small number of drawbridges on the Interstate Highway System. I-264 then heads east through Norfolk, crossing I-64 at the east side of the Hampton Roads Beltway and into Virginia Beach, where it ends at Parks Avenue just short of the Atlantic Ocean. From this point, 21st and 22nd streets continue as a oneway pair with no route designation to U.S. Route 60 (US 60, Pacific Avenue).

The original section of I-264, designated in the late 1950s, lies between the two I-64 junctions. The piece east to the Virginia Beach waterfront was built as the Virginia Beach–Norfolk Expressway (a toll road until 1995) and carried State Route 44 (SR 44) until I-264 was extended over it in 1999.

When I-64 was augmented in the 1990s with reversible HOV lanes, I-264 toward Virginia Beach (then SR 44) was designated as the eastern terminus of the reversible lanes and one of the few direct exits from/entrances to the HOV lanes.

I-264 is a part of the National Highway System for its entire length.

I-264 continues east as an eight-lane freeway between the Eastern Branch Elizabeth River to the south and Hampton Roads Transit's Tide Light Rail tracks to the north. The Interstate has an interchange with US 460, SR 166, and SR 168, which head northwest toward Downtown Norfolk as Brambleton Avenue and south across the river as Campostella Road. There is no access between Brambleton Avenue and I-264 toward downtown. East of US 460, the freeway passes to the south of Norfolk State University and has a diamond interchange with SR 405 (Ballentine Boulevard). I-264 crosses Broad Creek and gains collector–distributor lanes for the next three, closely-spaced interchanges. These junctions include a cloverleaf interchange with US 13 (Military Highway), a cloverleaf interchange with several flyover ramps at I-64 (Hampton Roads Beltway), and a partial cloverleaf interchange with SR 403 (Newtown Road). The middle carriageway of I-64 headed north, which has two HOV lanes, merges with both directions of I-264 heading east. I-264 enters the city of Virginia Beach at the Newtown Road interchange.

See also

  • Norfolk-Portsmouth Bridge-Tunnel
  • Berkley Bridge
  • Downtown Tunnel

References

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  • Virginia Highways Project: I-264
  • Roads to the Future: Interstate 264 in Virginia