Downtown / Midtown Tunnel

The Downtown Tunnel / Midtown Tunnel / MLK Extension consists of five components of construction involving three facilities in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. The Midtown Tunnel portion consists of a new two-lane tolled tunnel under the Elizabeth River parallel to the existing Midtown Tunnel connecting the Cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth as well as modifications to the existing tunnel to provide increased capacity for east-west travel linking Route 58 and I-264 in Portsmouth to the interchange at Brambleton Avenue/Hampton Boulevard in Norfolk. Modifications to the interchange are also planned. The planned improvements to the Downtown Tunnel will bring it into compliance with current fire and life safety standards. The MLK Extension portion of the project consists of extending U.S. Route 58 south from London Boulevard, approximately 0.8 mile to I-264 with an interchange at High Street.

The $2.1 billion project will be built on a design, build, finance, operate, and maintain (DBFOM) concession basis by Elizabeth River Crossings Opco, LLC (ERC) comprised of Skanska Infrastructure Development and Macquarie Group. ERC will operate the concession for 58 years. Tolling of the existing Midtown and Downtown Tunnels to help finance the project is expected to commence by January 31, 2014.