State Route 164 (SR 164) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

that connects the northern parts of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

with

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

and

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

via

Interstate 664 Interstate 664 (I-664) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US state of Virginia. The Interstate runs from I-64 and I-264 in Chesapeake north to I-64 in Hampton. I-664 forms the west side of the Hampton Roads Beltway, a circumferent ...

(I-664) with Downtown Portsmouth and

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

through either the

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

or Midtown Tunnels. The first section, known as the Western Freeway, is a four- to six-lane

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

that runs from

U.S. Route 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Highway that spans in the southeastern United States. It runs close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its length, wit ...

(US 17) in Suffolk east to the Pinners Point Interchange, which was its previous terminus. However, when the extension to the Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway opened in December 2016, the terminus was relocated to an interchange with Interstate 264. Although SR 164 is a freeway,

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

s and

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

s, but not

moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typic ...

s, are allowed over the West Norfolk Bridge between West Norfolk Road and a pair of special ramps to Bayview Boulevard and Florida Avenue.

Route description

SR 164 begins as a pair of two-lane flyover ramps from southbound US 17 (Bridge Road) and to northbound US 17, in the direction of the

James River Bridge The James River Bridge (JRB) is a four-lane divided highway lift bridge across the James River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation, it carries U.S. Route 17 (US 17), US 258, a ...

, in the Belleville area of the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

of Suffolk. Eastbound SR 164 receives another ramp from US 17, then the

meets I-664 (Hampton Roads Beltway) at a

partial cloverleaf interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...

that includes a flyover ramp from southbound I-664 to eastbound SR 164. Just east of the interchange, the eastbound carriageway crosses over the

Commonwealth Railway The Commonwealth Railway, Inc. is a United States Class III short-line railroad operating of track of a former Norfolk, Franklin and Danville Railway line from Suffolk, Virginia, to Portsmouth, Virginia. The main office is in the Wilroy area ...

, which settles into the media of SR 164. The state highway has a partial

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

with SR 135 (College Drive) that allows access to the crossroad to and from the direction of Portsmouth, which the freeway enters immediately to the east of the interchange. SR 164 and the railroad pass to the north of the community of Churchland, which is served via a diamond interchange with Towne Point Road and a partial cloverleaf interchange with Cedar Lane. East of Cedar Lane, a spur of the Commonwealth Railway splits to the north to serve the

Port of Virginia The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is an autonomous agency ( political subdivision) of the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns The Port of Virginia, a group of facilities with their activity centered on the harbor of Hampton Roads, Virginia. The p ...

's Virginia International Gateway terminals while the main line exits the median and begins to parallel the south side of the freeway. Truck access to the terminal is provided by a diamond interchange with Virginia International Gateway Boulevard. Within the West Norfolk neighborhood, SR 164 crosses the railroad and has a partial cloverleaf interchange with West Norfolk Road. The state highway crosses the

Western Branch Elizabeth River The Western Branch Elizabeth River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tidal river which bisects the city of Portsmouth, Virginia, in the United States. It ...

on the West Norfolk Bridge, which passes through an S-curve as it crosses the channel of the river then parallels the shore of the residential Port Norfolk neighborhood. SR 164 expands to six lanes at the south end of the river crossing part of the bridge. East of the bridge, the freeway enters the actual Port Norfolk, which is accessed via ramps with Railroad Avenue within the Pinners Point Interchange where US 58 is exiting the Midtown Tunnel. After the interchange, SR 164 East and US 58 west both continue south as the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway, connecting to London Boulevard in a full interchange, where it loses its US 58

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

. It then continues through a partial interchange at High Street before the ending with a full interchange at I-264/ US 460 Alternate.

History

In 1968,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

passed the

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-495; 82 Stat. 815) is legislation enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law on August 24, 1968, which expanded the Interstate Highway System by ; provided funding for new interstat ...

, which expanded the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

by . The

Commonwealth Transportation Board The Commonwealth Transportation Board, formerly the State Highway and Transportation Board, regulates and funds transportation in Virginia. It oversees the Virginia Department of Transportation. Membership The Board consists of seventeen members: * ...

resolved in its August 1968 meeting to apply for five new stretches of Interstate: the future

I-195 Interstate 195 (I-195) is the designation for the following Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95: *Interstate 195 (District of Columbia), a future designation for the north–south portion of I-395 from the Sout ...

and I-664 plus an expansion of the Berkley Bridge on I-264 were submitted to the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test quality control, protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction through ...

(AASHTO) and approved, while two other segments were instead built as SR 164 and SR 288. AASHTO has no record of Virginia ever making a formal application to add SR 164 to the Interstate system from 1968 through the 1978 opening of the Elizabeth River bridge. The still-unbuilt road was first referred to as SR 164 in 1971.

Exit list

All exits are unnumbered.

References

External links

Virginia Highways Project: VA 164
{{Transportation in the Hampton Roads Region

164 Year 164 ( CLXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Macrinus and Celsus (or, less frequently, year 917 ''Ab urbe condit ...

State Route 164 State Route 164

West Norfolk Bridge State Route 164 (SR 164) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia that connects the northern parts of Suffolk, Virginia, Suffolk and Portsmouth, Virginia, Portsmouth with Newport News, Virginia, Newport News and Hampton, Virgini ...