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63-586: The Elizabeth River Tunnels Project , a series of transportation projects in the South Hampton Roads region of Virginia , comprises the rehabilitation of the Downtown and existing Midtown Tunnels, the construction of a new parallel Midtown Tunnel, and the extension of the MLK Freeway / U.S. 58 to I-264 . Intended to reduce congestion on area surface streets and arterial roads, the project

126-717: A 19-cent toll to the MLK Extension), which could raise $ 427 million for the project; or adding a $ 2.05 peak/$ 1.50 off-peak toll for the Midtown, and a $ 2.20 peak/$ 1.60 off-peak for the Downtown Tunnel, which could raise nearly $ 4.8 billion. Based on this study, the MPO added the projects to the regions 2030 RTP, now estimated to cost around $ 779 million— if the Virginia General Assembly approved

189-411: A commission consisting of eight lawmakers, four from each party, and eight citizens. The amendment passed with all counties and cities supporting the measure except Arlington . The commission failed to reach an agreement on new state and congressional districts by an October 25, 2021, deadline, and relied upon the amendment's provision that lets the state Supreme Court of Virginia draw the districts in

252-571: A manner as these two areas. The changes resulted in the area having Virginia's cities with the largest land areas and the most farming, even over 30 years after the consolidations in some instances. The South Hampton Roads region includes five independent cities , three counties, and three incorporated towns with a total population of 1,191,937 people. There were also a number of political subdivisions which are now extinct, primarily due to growth and consolidation of local government (see section below). Exclusive of towns which became cities and still have

315-759: A regional gas tax [was] not a reasonably foreseeable source of revenue" for the plan. In 2006, the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) (formerly a subcommittee of the HRPDC, now known as the Transportation Planning Organization) concluded that new tolls could help secure funding for transportation projects that were removed from the 2026 RTP, including the Midtown Tunnel and MLK Extension. This would include tolling

378-504: A very expensive project and we have no public‐sector resources to pay for it.", which was underscored in the solicitation request, which stated that "user tolls will ultimately pay for the work". Ultimately, although three companies expressed an interest, only one actually submitted a proposal, which was what is now Elizabeth River Crossings. After the lengthy review process required under the PPTA, then-Governor Bob McDonnell and VDOT executed

441-690: Is NAVSEA Dam Neck . Virginia Beach is also the home of Joint Expeditionary Base East , operated by the United States Navy , which is located at Cape Henry . St. Julien's Creek Annex is a U.S. Navy facility in Chesapeake on the Southern Branch Elizabeth River . It began operations in 1849 and occupies approximately 490 acres (200  ha ), including 407 acres (165 ha) of land, 14 acres (5.7 ha) of marsh, and 69 acres (28 ha) of surface water. It

504-763: Is accessed from the north by a network of highways, bridges , tunnels and bridge-tunnels across the James and Elizabeth Rivers, the harbor of Hampton Roads and the Chesapeake Bay . The area is bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean , on the south by the State of North Carolina , and on the west by several counties which are considered to be in the Southside Virginia region. Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly

567-541: Is currently considered part of the Norfolk Navy Base. Chesapeake is also home to U.S. Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress, an auxiliary landing facility for NAS Oceana. The decision to call the region "Hampton Roads" was a political one. The area was referred to as "Tidewater" for many years by the local residents. The local baseball team was called the Tidewater Tides for years but is now called

630-656: Is described as "the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World." Its existence dates to its establishment at Jamestown on July 30, 1619, by instructions from the Virginia Company of London to the new Governor Sir George Yeardley . It was initially a unicameral body composed of the Company-appointed Governor and Council of State , plus 22 burgesses elected by the settlements and Jamestown. The Assembly became bicameral in 1642 upon

693-671: Is home to several United States military bases . Norfolk Naval Shipyard is located in Portsmouth, as are the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth , two historic and important facilities, as well as several smaller facilities. The shipyard was founded as the Gosport Shipyard on November 1, 1767, and has the country's first dry dock . The name was changed after the American Civil War . (Although it

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756-559: Is located in Portsmouth, the name Norfolk was chosen to avoid confusion with another U.S. Navy shipyard at Portsmouth, New Hampshire which is about 50 miles (80 km) north of Boston, Massachusetts , at the southernmost tip of Maine .) Across the Elizabeth River , at Sewell's Point near the mouth of Hampton Roads is the Norfolk Navy Base , the central hub of the United States Navy 's Atlantic Fleet . The base

819-568: Is not empowered to do directly, namely, impose taxes on the citizenry in the absence of an affirmative, recorded vote of a majority of all members elected to each body of the General Assembly. Thus, by enacting Chapter 896 [HB 3202], the General Assembly has failed to adhere to the mandates of accountability and transparency that the Constitution requires when the General Assembly exercises the legislative taxing authority permitted by

882-536: Is not to be confused with " Southside Virginia ", which is a separate region of the south-central portion of Virginia located farther inland.) As of the 2020 Census , the Hampton Roads MSA is the ninth largest metropolitan area by size in the southeastern United States, and is the second-largest (after the Charlotte metro area ) between Washington, D.C. , and Atlanta, Georgia . South Hampton Roads

945-600: Is practicable, representation in proportion to the population of the district." The Redistricting Coalition of Virginia proposes either an independent commission or a bipartisan commission that is not polarized. Member organizations include the League of Women Voters of Virginia, AARP of Virginia, OneVirginia2021 , the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Virginia Organizing . Governor Bob McDonnell 's Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting for

1008-804: Is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia , the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere , and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World . It was established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house , the Virginia House of Delegates , with 100 members, and an upper house , the Senate of Virginia , with 40 members. Senators serve terms of four years, and delegates serve two-year terms. Combined,

1071-655: The 2023 election , when the Democratic Party secured majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. The General Assembly meets in Virginia's capital of Richmond . When sitting in Richmond, the General Assembly holds sessions in the Virginia State Capitol , designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1788 and expanded in 1904. During the American Civil War , the building was used as the capitol of

1134-795: The Confederate States , housing the Confederate Congress . The building was renovated between 2005 and 2006. Senators and delegates have their offices in the General Assembly Building across the street directly north of the Capitol, which have been rebuilt and are expected to open in 2023. The Governor of Virginia lives across the street directly east of the Capitol in the Virginia Executive Mansion . The Virginia General Assembly

1197-464: The Constitution of Virginia , senators and delegates must be twenty-one years of age at the time of the election, residents of the district they represent, and qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly. Under the Constitution, "a senator or delegate who moves his residence from the district for which he is elected shall thereby vacate his office." The state constitution specifies that

1260-478: The High Rise Bridge using I-464 . One-lane closures were not feasible because most of this work required overhead work (such as installing the fireproofing on the ceiling), or work that would cross the centerline. But after several weekends of closures, public outcry from businesses and citizens of Portsmouth forced VDOT and ERC to reconsider the plan. Portsmouth City Council asked VDOT to look at turning

1323-559: The Norfolk Tides . When they first came to Tidewater, they adopted the local name to draw more fans. In Colonial times, and even in the first 150 years of the United States, much like Virginia as a whole, South Hampton Roads was in an almost constant state of change in terms of local government, largely due to growth, as counties were divided and towns were formed as the population grew. Some towns grew to become cities. Under

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1386-652: The secretary of the Senate , the title used by the U.S. Senate ). Following the 2019 election , the Democratic Party held a majority of seats in both the House and the Senate for the first time since 1996. They were sworn into office on January 8, 2020, at the start of the 161st session . In the 2021 election , the Republican Party recaptured a majority in the House of Delegates, then lost it after

1449-830: The Commonwealth of Virginia made its report on April 1, 2011. It made two recommendations for each state legislative house that showed maps of districts more compact and contiguous than those adopted by the General Assembly. However, no action was taken after the report was released. In 2011 the Virginia College and University Redistricting Competition was organized by Professors Michael McDonald of George Mason University and Quentin Kidd of Christopher Newport University . About 150 students on sixteen teams from thirteen schools submitted plans for legislative and U.S. Congressional Districts. They created districts more compact than

1512-495: The Comprehensive Agreement with ERC on December 5, 2011. Under the agreement, VDOT retains ownership and oversight of the tunnels, while ERC finances, builds, operates and maintains the facilities for a 58-year concession period. Funding is expected from tolls, private equity, contributions from the Commonwealth and a low-interest Federal Highway Administration loan. ERC is responsible for paying back all debt on

1575-563: The Constitution. If payment of the regional taxes and fees is to be required by a general law, it is the prerogative and the function of the General Assembly, as provided by Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution, to make that decision, in a manner which complies with the requirements of Article IV, Section 11 of the Constitution. The opinion did not find the existence of the HRTA (or the NVTA for that matter) to be unconstitutional, nor did it strike

1638-462: The Downtown Tunnel is the Midtown Tunnel upstream. Built in 1962 to carry U.S. 58 , the Midtown allows direct access to Portsmouth without passing through Downtown. Built with one lane in both directions, it served nearly 8,400 vehicles per day in its first operating year and nearly 40,000 per day in 2013, making it the "most heavily traveled two-lane road east of the Mississippi", according to

1701-464: The Elizabeth River. As of March 2015, the first six elements are in place and production of the remaining five tunnel elements is in progress. Upon completion of construction, traffic in the existing Midtown Tunnel will be converted to one-way eastbound from Portsmouth to Norfolk and the new 2-lane tunnel will carry westbound traffic from Norfolk to Portsmouth. The scheduled completion date of

1764-424: The General Assembly consists of 140 elected representatives from an equal number of constituent districts across the commonwealth. The House of Delegates is presided over by the speaker of the House , while the Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virginia . The House and Senate each elect a clerk and sergeant-at-arms . The Senate of Virginia's clerk is known as the clerk of the Senate (instead of as

1827-697: The General Assembly in 1776 with the ratification of the Virginia Constitution . The government was moved to Richmond in 1780 during the administration of Governor Thomas Jefferson . The annual salary for senators is $ 18,000. The annual salary for delegates is $ 17,640, with the exception that the Speaker's salary is $ 36,321. Members and one staff member also receive a per diem allowance for each day spent attending to official duties such as attending session in Richmond or attending committee meetings. Transportation expenses are reimbursed. Under

1890-402: The General Assembly shall meet annually, and its regular session is a maximum of 60 days long in even-numbered years and 30 days long in odd-numbered years, unless extended by a two-thirds vote of both houses. The Governor of Virginia may convene a special session of the General Assembly "when, in his opinion, the interest of the Commonwealth may require" and must convene a special session "upon

1953-528: The General Assembly's efforts. The "Division 1" maps conformed with the Governor's executive order , and did not address electoral competition or representational fairness. In addition to the criteria of contiguity, equipopulation, the federal Voting Rights Act and communities of interest in the existing city and county boundaries, "Division 2" maps in the competition did incorporate considerations of electoral competition and representational fairness. Judges for

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2016-505: The House of Delegates. In 2015, in Vesilind v. Virginia State Board of Elections in a Virginia state court, plaintiffs sought to overturn the General Assembly's redistricting in five House of Delegates and six state Senate districts as violations of both the Virginia and U.S. Constitutions because they failed to represent populations in "continuous and compact territory". In 2020, a constitutional amendment moved redistricting power to

2079-565: The Midtown Tunnel and the new Western Freeway . Efforts to extend the MLK Freeway have been in the works with VDOT as far back as the early 1990s, when the agency completed its initial environmental assessment. The project received a new environmental assessment in 1999, when VDOT began pursuing the parallel Midtown Tunnel. In June 2004, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission wanted to add

2142-548: The VDOT and ERC. Traffic is projected to rise to nearly 50,000 vehicles per day by 2026. The Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway carries U.S. 58 after the Midtown Tunnel to its surface-street connection on London Boulevard in Portsmouth. As part of the long-term plan, regional leaders and VDOT looked to extend the freeway from its terminus at London Boulevard down to I-264, creating a highway-speed alternate that connected I-264 to

2205-526: The above limits: South Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name. The land portion of Hampton Roads has been historically divided into two regions, South Hampton Roads on the south side and the Virginia Peninsula on the north side. (Locally, South Hampton Roads is commonly called "the Southside", which

2268-412: The application of two-thirds of the members elected to each house." Article II, section 6 on apportionment states, "Members of the . . . Senate and of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly shall be elected from electoral districts established by the General Assembly. Every electoral district shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory and shall be so constituted as to give, as nearly as

2331-444: The authority of the regional authorities to impose tolling on the roadways. As early as 2004 while the political wrangling continued, VDOT had determined that in order to fund the project, it would need to be a public-private venture, sending out an informal request for information for private entities interested in pursuing such a project. Three companies expressed an interest in the project, including Skanska. Both Skanska and one of

2394-431: The basis of population, in conformance with federal and state laws and court cases, including those addressing racial fairness. The territory is to be contiguous and compact, without oddly shaped boundaries. The commission is prohibited from using political data or election results to favor either political party or incumbent. It passed with a two-thirds majority of 27 to 12 in the Senate, and was then referred to committee in

2457-929: The cash award prizes were Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution and Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute . In January 2015 Republican state senator Jill Holtzman Vogel of Winchester and Democratic state senator Louise Lucas of Portsmouth sponsored a Senate Joint Resolution to establish additional criteria for the Virginia Redistricting Commission of four identified members of political parties, and three other independent public officials. The criteria began with respecting existing political boundaries, such as cities and towns, counties and magisterial districts, election districts and voting precincts. Districts are to be established on

2520-424: The contract penalties. The Downtown & Midtown Tunnel Rehabilitation Project consisted of 15 projects to bring the tunnels up to NFPA 502 standards, plus: Rehabilitation work on the westbound Downtown Tunnel (Norfolk to Portsmouth) began on August 9, 2013. The plan initially called for closing the tunnel on about 25 consecutive weekends from 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday, with traffic to be primarily detoured to

2583-648: The controversial civil remedial fees , a plan that would have allowed the HRTA to raise nearly $ 169 million in taxes in its first year. However, the authority's taxing authority was short-lived. On February 28, 2008, the State Supreme Court ruled in Marshall v. Northern Virginia Transportation Authority that the taxation authority granted to these non-elected bodies violated the Constitution of Virginia : The General Assembly also may not accomplish through Chapter 896 [HB 3202], indirectly, that which it

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2646-571: The eastbound tunnel into a two-way tunnel during the weekend closures, an idea VDOT and ERC had initially ruled out, insisting that "maintaining two lanes of eastbound traffic in the eastbound Downtown Tunnel while directing westbound traffic towards one of the four alternative routes (with the I-64 High Rise Bridge as the primary detour) is the best course of action, both for the Project and the traveling public." Eventually, ERC changed

2709-431: The event that the commission could not do so. The Supreme Court did so and approved newly drawn districts on December 28, 2021. While newly drawn districts will currently first be used in 2023, a federal lawsuit is pending that calls for an election to be held using newly drawn districts as immediately as November 2022. If the lawsuit was successful, it would have required all House districts, which just held elections under

2772-674: The fabrication and installation of the new, parallel Midtown Tunnel, as well as upgrading & replacing the Brambleton Ave/ Hampton Boulevard interchange, which leads directly to the tunnel. Fabrication of the tunnel's 11 concrete elements began in November 2012 in Sparrows Point, Maryland and are towed down the Chesapeake Bay to the Project site in Portsmouth for immersion and placement under

2835-650: The formation of the House of Burgesses . The Assembly had a judicial function of hearing cases both original and appellate . At various times it may have been referred to as the Grand Assembly of Virginia. The General Assembly met in Jamestown from 1619 until 1699, when it first moved to the College of William & Mary near Williamsburg, Virginia , and from 1705 met in the colonial Capitol building. It became

2898-406: The money they put into the project. Initially, ERC estimated the toll rate to be between $ 2–3 (for cars), however the Comprehensive Agreement scheduled the tolls to begin at rates of $ 1.59/non-peak hours and $ 1.84/peak for cars and $ 4.77/non-peak and $ 7.34/peak for heavy vehicles after the infusion of VDOT and FHWA money and the extra eight years added to the concession. However, after public outcry at

2961-483: The new Midtown Tunnel is December 24, 2016. ERC will face the steepest penalty of all the projects -- $ 21,000 a day—if this project is not completed by its completion date. For the rehabilitation work on the Midtown Tunnel, ERC will face the same penalty as for the work on the Downtown tunnel ($ 7,000/day), if the work is not completed by May 11, 2018. ERC completed the new tunnel a half year ahead of schedule, and opened

3024-447: The new Midtown Tunnel is completed, at which point they would return to the rates set in the Comprehensive Agreement. After 2017, rates increase annually by a factor equal to the greater of changes to Consumer Price Index or 3.5 percent. Each level of the project was laid out in detail in the Comprehensive Agreement as four separate projects/services, along with the dates that construction on them must be substantially completed to avoid

3087-504: The new tolls and several tax increases. After receiving the proposal, the General Assembly enacted House Bill 3202 introduced by State Delegate William J. Howell , which allowed the region to enact tolling on the project by creating the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority , as well as authorizing tax increases requested by the MPO to finance the other major projects in the region's plan, including

3150-484: The new, westbound tunnel to traffic at 1:40pm EST on June 17, 2016. Rehabilitation work on the Midtown was completed early as well, by mid-2017. The Martin Luther King Freeway Project consists of extending the freeway from U.S. 58/London Boulevard to an interchange with I-264 with an interchange at High Street (which carries U.S. 17 to the east of its interchange with U.S. 58). This requires

3213-690: The other interested parties stated that tolling on the Downtown Tunnel and the Midtown Tunnel would bring about the best financial outcome for completing the project. Following that, VDOT began the process to solicit bids from private companies to partner with the state in executing the Elizabeth River Tunnels Project (which now included the rehabilitation of the Downtown Tunnel) through Virginia's Public Private Transportation Act. Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer said that "It desperately needs upgrading." and that "it's

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3276-417: The parallel Downtown Tunnel to create a congestion-management plan to prevent the diversion of potential Midtown Tunnel traffic to a competing free facility. Both tunnels were initially tolled (25 cents, both ways) to pay off their construction bonds; both were made free in the late 1980s after the opening of the second (eastbound) Downtown Tunnel. Options included adding a 58-cent toll to the Midtown Tunnel (and

3339-587: The parallel Midtown Tunnel and the extension of the Martin Luther King Freeway (along with several other congestion-relieving projects) to the 2026 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The construction cost was estimated at $ 686 million. However, the Commission removed the project from the RTP after concluding that state funding would be insufficient, and because VDOT determined that "reliance on

3402-555: The permanent closure of two I-264 ramps: eastbound to Des Moines Ave, and Westbound to South Street, in accordance with the projects FHWA approval of the VDOT proposal. Construction on the extension began in November 2014 and was completed in 2016. Operational control of the tunnel system was turned over to ERC on July 12, 2012. Under the agreement's turnover plan, ERC is responsible for all maintaining and operating: The boundaries for incident management, which includes removal of disabled/wrecked vehicles as well as snow removal, extends

3465-493: The plan from full weekend closures to nightly closures from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Rehabilitation work on the eastbound tunnel began on July 25, 2014. ERC scheduled full weekend closures on the eastbound tunnel and little to no resistance was felt from city leaders or residents. To minimize delays, work on the Midtown Tunnel will begin after the completion of the new Midtown Tunnel. The Downtown Tunnel rehabilitation work ended August 16, 2016. The Midtown Tunnel Construction consists of

3528-401: The project, as well as assumes the entire risk of a decrease in toll revenue if traffic counts do not meet projections. However, if traffic exceeds projections and increases revenue, VDOT will receive a portion of the excess revenue, after all other costs and debt service has been paid for the period. The deal reached financial close on April 13, 2012. The cost of the project, at financial close

3591-416: The rates, the incoming governor, Terry McAuliffe announced a further, $ 82.5 million buydown of the tolls through the completion of the construction. This buydown reduced tolls to 75-cents/off peak and $ 1.00/peak for the light vehicles, and $ 2.25 during non-peak or $ 4.00 during peak hours for heavy vehicles. Under Gov. McAuliffe's plan, toll rates would increase by 25-cents each year until January 2017 or until

3654-468: The river's Eastern Branch (via the Berkley Bridge ) and its Southern Branch (via the Downtown Tunnel ). Built in 1952, the westbound Downtown Tunnel is the oldest tunnel in Hampton Roads; much of it, including its ceiling tiles, has reached or exceeded its designed service life and requires repairs. The eastbound tube, built in 1987, also requires maintenance, as well as several updates to comply with NFPA 502 regulations. The primary alternate route to

3717-426: The same name, no less than 2 shires, 6 counties, 1 town, and 2 entire cities no longer exist in the South Hampton Roads area. For search of genealogical, land, and other historical records, it may be necessary to find these old names. The following is a listing of these 11 extinct shire, counties, towns, and cities, with the approximate dates they existed: Generally surrounded by water, the South Hampton Roads region

3780-439: The state constitutional changes in 1871, extant and future cities in Virginia became independent cities of the counties they had formerly been located within. However, in the second half of the 20th century, an unprecedented wave of city-county-town local government consolidations took place in South Hampton Roads and on the Virginia Peninsula . Nowhere else in Virginia have rural areas and more dense cities been combined in such

3843-407: Was $ 2.1 billion. ERC eventually received $ 300 million from VDOT, $ 663.75 mil from the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority and $ 422 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation , all of which went to pay down the toll rate. The 58-year concession period will end on April 13, 2070. The agreement gave ERC the authority to impose tolling on the roadway in order to recoup the private parties

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3906-418: Was administered by Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC) and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) as part of a 58-year public-private partnership . ERC maintains and operates the project ongoing. Transportation around South Hampton Roads is complicated by the various branches of the Elizabeth River (Virginia) , which are crossed by two major highways. The busiest spur route in the area, I-264 , crosses

3969-426: Was founded in 1917, and is now the largest naval facility in the world. Virginia Beach is home to the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Station Oceana (NAS Oceana) and Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek (NAB Little Creek). NAS Oceana is the largest employer in Virginia Beach, and both bases there, like the Norfolk Navy Base, are considered to be the largest of their respective kinds in the world. Furthermore, adjacent to Oceana

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