Hampton VA hospital closing 2 roads to general traffic to help study congestion around I-64

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — The Hampton VA Medical Center will be closing two federally-owned roads to general traffic to conduct a 90-day traffic impact study.

The closure will affect Harris Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard off Emancipation Drive. It starts Monday, Oct. 4 and runs through Jan. 3 between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m.

While the roads will be closed to general traffic, they will be open to veterans, VA staff, guests and contractors.

Federal law enforcement with the VA will be there to enforce the closures. Those authorized to use the roads will need to show proper identification. Emergency services will still be able to access the facility.

The traffic impact study will monitor the congestion patterns of S. Mallory Street and the off-ramp to Interstate 64 eastbound near the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel “to help implement future strategies to enhance mobility of people and goods, support the city’s economics and residential vitality while providing enhanced access to health care for Veterans,” the VA hospital wrote in a public notice Wednesday.

In a meeting earlier this month, Hampton City Council voted to support an idea from the Virginia Department of Transportation that’ll close both the on-ramps coming from Mallory Street and Settlers Landing Road from 3-6 p.m. daily until the HRBT expansion project is completed.

That closure still needs the go-ahead from the Federal Highway Administration.

However, during that meeting, City Council also agreed the city would work with the Hampton VA and Hampton University to see if there were other options to relieve congestion.