CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO) has released its State of Transportation 2026 report, and it highlights notable improvements to the region’s road infrastructure, even as challenges remain in roadway safety and growing travel demand.
One of the improvements that stood out? Bridge safety.
According to the report, just 2.7% of bridges in Hampton Roads are currently classified as being in poor condition, a significant improvement from 2017, when more than 5% fell into that category. With roughly 1,300 bridges across the region, that reduction represents meaningful progress.
“Right now it’s about two and a half percent of our bridges are in poor condition, and a lot of that has to do with increased funding provided by the state,” said Keith Nichols, Principal Transportation Engineer with HRTPO. “The state of good repair program that was put in place about a decade ago has really helped with the increased funding and improved the condition of our bridges. We also have a prioritization methodology which helps us know which bridges are the worst.”
Hampton Roads’ geography, with its extensive waterways and crossings, makes bridge maintenance a critical concern. One of the most high-profile projects still underway is the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT), which has long faced both congestion and structural challenges.
“Not only was the capacity of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel an issue with the backups you see there, but also with the condition of the bridges,” Nichols said. “Those bridges are decades and decades old. So it will help not only with widening the bridge, but also help improve the condition of those bridges.”
While bridge conditions are improving, the report also points to ongoing concerns about roadway safety. Traffic fatalities in the region remain higher than they were a decade ago, though recent trends offer some cautious optimism.
“The good news is those numbers really increased during the pandemic, but they have started to come down a little bit over the last few years,” Nichols said.
Meanwhile, alternatives to driving, such as air and rail travel, are seeing increased demand. From 2015 to 2024, air travel out of Hampton Roads rose by 46%, this includes passengers traveling through Norfolk International Airport and Newport News–Williamsburg International Airport.
Norfolk International Airport has taken several steps to attract even more travelers, including the addition of international flights to destinations like Cancun and the construction of a new arrivals terminal.
“There’s also more availability of travel, so we’re seeing more non-stop flights out of our airports,” Nichols said. “For example, we now offer international flights out of there, which we haven’t done for about two decades, so people are taking advantage of these opportunities.”
Rail travel has also expanded, with the Norfolk Amtrak station adding a third daily train in recent years, another sign of growing transportation demand across Hampton Roads.
Lastly, congestion. A problem a lot of us deal with in the region every morning and evening. According to the latest data from HRTPO, travelers lost an average of 17 hours due to being stuck in congestion in 2023, that’s a lot of time.
“While it is increasing each year, the amount of traffic we have on our roadways is still about 4% lower than what we saw prior to the pandemic.The number of people working from home is still elevated compared to what we saw in 2019.,” Nichols told News 3.
For a link to the full report, click here.
