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A plan to limit access to the ramp leading from Settlers Landing Road to Interstate 64 during rush hour has drawn mixed reactions from Hampton residents.
The City Council OK’d a pilot program last week that will restrict access to the Settlers Landing Road eastbound I-64 ramp from 3-6 p.m. on weekdays. The program will begin in June, with access to the ramp closed coming from Hampton University. In July, that access will reopen while access to the same ramp will be closed coming from Woodland Road. There won’t be any changes for drivers heading westbound or entering the city.
The council did not need to take a formal vote on the matter, but Mayor Donnie Tuck decided to check at the end of Wednesday night’s meeting to see whether the council members were in agreement on the plan.
The City Council first heard a presentation on the matter at its meeting in late April to give the community time for feedback. Tuck said the city received “a number of positive emails from downtown residents as well as downtown businesses” offering support for the plan.
But when word of the plan hit the city’s Facebook page, it was met with a barrage of comments — many of which were critical of the measure and said it would create an inconvenience for some residents who need to access the interstate. People in Phoebus, Buckroe, Fox Hill and downtown Hampton would need to drive out of their way to get on I-64.
On its Facebook page, the city encouraged Hampton drivers who need to access the interstate during the three hours the closure is in effect to use Interstate-664. But for some residents, that suggestion wasn’t good enough because it means paying a toll to get to Norfolk and adding miles to their drive.
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“This makes no sense,” a Facebook user identified as Artresah Lorzier wrote on the city’s post announcing the change. “I live in Fox Hill, so that makes me a resident of the area. But I’m not going to be able to get on the highway in my neighborhood.”
The city plans to put signage and cones up to block the lane, and a police officer will be situated in the area for enforcement. The city will also work with mapping applications such as Apple Maps and Waze to make sure GPS doesn’t direct drivers to the closed ramp.
Mapping applications have directed people through the city to avoid traffic from backups related to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. But it also has created gridlock that makes it difficult for local residents to get to businesses and to their homes. The congestion is also overflowing into Phoebus and downtown Hampton.
Those who supported the City Council’s decision suggested avoiding the interstate while the ramp is closed and said it would make it easier to travel around the city.
“I live where the traffic was impeding us getting home in the afternoons,” Facebook user Trina Arsenault commented on the city’s post. “You will never make everyone happy! But this decision is the best one made in a long time.”
The city is hoping that the traffic problems will go away when the Virginia Department of Transportation finishes expanding the HRBT. The project is slated for completion in November 2025.
Jessica Nolte, 757-912-1675, jnolte@dailypress.com