Interstate 64 - Definition and Overview

Interstate 64 is an interstate highway in the eastern United States. Its western terminus is just west of an interchange with Missouri Highway K in St. Charles County, Missouri; its eastern terminus is at an intersection with Interstate 264 and Interstate 664 in Chesapeake, Virginia.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is currently extending Interstate 64 to Interstate 70 in Wentzville, Missouri. Currently an interchange is being built at Route N in St. Charles County, Missouri.

Length

Major Cities Along the Route

• Saint Louis, Missouri
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Lexington, Kentucky
• Huntington, West Virginia
• Charleston, West Virginia
• Charlottesville, Virginia
• Richmond, Virginia
• Newport News, Virginia
• Hampton, Virginia
• Norfolk, Virginia
• Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Chesapeake, Virginia

Intersections with other Interstates

• Interstate 55 in Saint Louis, Missouri. They stay connected until East Saint Louis, Illinois.
• Interstate 70 in Saint Louis, Missouri. They stay connected until East Saint Louis, Illinois.
• Interstate 57 for 5 miles (8 km) around Mount Vernon, Illinois
• Interstate 65 in Louisville, Kentucky
• Interstate 71 in Louisville, Kentucky
• Interstate 75 for 6 miles (10 km) in Lexington, Kentucky
• Interstate 77 in Charleston, West Virginia. They stay connected until Beckley, West Virginia.
• Interstate 81 in Lexington, Virginia. They stay connected until Staunton, Virginia.
• Interstate 95 for 4 miles (6.5 km) in Richmond, Virginia

Spur Routes

• Spur to Evansville, Indiana - I-164
• Louisville, Kentucky - I-264; also called the Watterson Expressway (this is the inner beltway at Louisville; the outer beltway is I-265)
• Hampton Roads area, Virginia - I-264, I-464, I-564, I-664

Notes

• Some highway mavens think that I-44 and I-64 could and should hook up, become one longer interstate, and be renamed I-60.

• The final section of Interstate 64 to be completed was in West Virginia between Sam Black Church and the West Virginia Turnpike near Beckley. This section, opened in 1988, is 32 miles long, and cost about $300 million to build, making it one of the most costly sections in the entire U.S. Interstate Highway System. It crosses some of the most rugged terrain of the Mountain State.

• Tolls are still collected on the portion of I-64 which is shared with Interstate 77 on the West Virginia Turnpike between Beckley and Charleston.

• The eastern terminus of I-64 is not the road's easternmost point. After crossing Hampton Roads through the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and entering Norfolk, the road makes a wide loop toward Virginia Beach and through that city's northwest side. The road then curves toward its final destination on the west side of Chesapeake. From the point where the road enters Chesapeake, I-64 East actually runs westward, ending at a location known as Bower's Hill near the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp where it joins Interstate 664.

• The portion of Interstate 64 east from its junction with Interstate 664 in Hampton, and all of Interstate 664 form the Hampton Roads Beltway.

• Interstate 64 has two three-digit bypasses that are shorter than the main leg, both in the Hampton Roads area.

Interstate 664, which connects the Virginia Peninsula to South Hampton Roads on the western side of Chesapeake (and to the eastern terminus of I-64), is about 15 miles (24 km) shorter than the bypassed main leg.

The bypass segment of I-264, which passes through downtown Norfolk, is about a mile (1.6 km) shorter than the main leg it bypasses.

• Interstate 264 in the Hampton Roads area is an unusual 3-digit interstate that contains both a bypass and a spur.

The bypass section is a direct connection to downtown Norfolk and Portsmouth.

The spur section, which runs from I-64 toward Virginia Beach's seaside resort district, was originally the Virginia Beach Expressway, a toll road designated as Virginia Highway 44. The tolls were removed in 1995 and the former toll road was renumbered as part of I-264 in 1999.

Reference

• 2005 Rand McNally "The Road Atlas 2005" - newest feature- interstate mileage by state

External Links

• West Virginia Turnpike official website (http://www.wvturnpike.com/)
• Roads to the Future website (http://www.roadstothefuture.com/I64_I77_WVa.html)