NORFOLK, Va. — Here at News 3, when it comes to transportation, we get a lot of messages and questions about work on the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. But if you would like to gain firsthand knowledge on the HRBT, project leaders are hosting a series of information sessions in the coming months.
At a recent session, News 3 learned that drilling on the final tunnel is set to finish up later this month, with a breakthrough date scheduled for September 24.
However, that’s not the only tidbit of information available to folks who attend these sessions.
“I was able to see what infrastructure had to be built first, how the north and south islands had to be prepared. We can’t have suddenly eight tunnels come into two lanes of traffic you know?” said Norfolk resident Becky Jones.
Watch related: How binoculars, cameras and dogs keep nesting shore birds away from HRBT construction
The sessions are hosted at the HRBT Welcome Center, located just off Fourth View Street in Norfolk. The center features models of the equipment used to dig the tunnels and even artifacts uncovered during the tunnel digging, like the bones of a Mastodon that are more than 10,000 years old.
“We turn stakeholders into advocates. Folks can go home and say, 'I’ve learned about how a 10 million-pound boring machine works its way across the bay,' and have a little bit of a better appreciation of the hard work we put in every day, and also appreciate that light is at the end of the tunnel here in the very near future,” said project director Ryan Banas.
More importantly, visitors had the chance to bring their questions and concerns directly to project leaders, which is rare with a project of this size.
“It helps me, and I hope other residents, to understand why there’s traffic jams on Tidewater Drive and on the Hampton side — why it is backing up to Settlers Landing,” Jones told News 3.
Here are the details on their upcoming information sessions at the Welcome Center:
- September 24, 2025: Cancelled because of the anticipated tunnel breakthrough.
- October 5, 2025: 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
- October 22, 2025: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There will be more dates set up, running through the rest of 2025. As soon as we know those dates, we will update this story accordingly.
The HRBT Expansion is scheduled to be completed in early 2027.
