Virginia could amend its agreement with the contractor for the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion to increase the state’s financial commitments after being told the project could be delayed by nearly two years.

According to the original timeline, the $3.9 billion project is supposed to be finished by November 2025. But contractor Hampton Roads Connector Partners has told state officials that it doesn’t think work will be done and requested a 600-day extension. 

This story was reported and written by The Virginia Mercury

At a Sept. 20 meeting of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, staff from the Virginia Department of Transportation said the requested delay was due to labor issues and COVID-19 and global market impacts. Following a closed-session meeting, the board voted in favor of allowing the state commissioner of highways to amend the current project agreement.

VDOT spokeswoman Brooke Grow said the commissioner is still reviewing information provided by the contractor and has not taken any action.

Hampton Roads Connector Partners deferred questions about the cost increase to the state transportation agency.

The board’s September vote authorizes the commissioner to make amendments to the agreement that would include heightened financial commitments from both the state and the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission, a group of local officials that determine how regional funding in the area is spent on transportation projects. 

The potential new agreement would ask the state to provide an additional $53 million in supplemental contingency funds, which would be obtained from the state’s program to improve highway corridors, as well as setting a $373 million cap on construction cost increases.

The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion is the largest highway construction project in Virginia’s history and aims to decrease congestion on and around the heavily traveled bridge-tunnel. The project includes widening the current four-lane segments along a nearly 10-mile stretch of the Interstate 64 corridor in Norfolk and Hampton and adding new twin two-lane tunnels across the harbor. 

Mining is underway to construct the tunnels, which began in April. Construction crews are expected to complete digging by the spring.

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