Roadway congestion is a primary concern facing the users of the Hampton Roads transportation system as it adversely impacts quality of life and economic competitiveness.  In order to evaluate current roadway conditions, assess regional transportation needs, and outline strategies to manage current and future roadway congestion, the HRTPO recently updated its Congestion Management Process (CMP): System Performance and Mitigation report.

As the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Hampton Roads, Virginia region, HRTPO is required by federal law to maintain a Congestion Management Process (CMP).  The Hampton Roads CMP is an on-going systematic process for managing congestion that provides information and analysis on multimodal transportation system performance and on strategies to alleviate congestion and enhance the mobility of persons and goods regionwide.  During this process, HRTPO works with state and local agencies to develop these strategies and mobility options.  HRTPO released the first Congestion Management System for Hampton Roads in 1995, and was updated in 1997, 2001, 2005, and 2010.  The CMP is a vital element of the HRTPO planning process and is used as a guide to develop project recommendations for the Transportation Improvement Program and the Long-Range Transportation Plan.

The Hampton Roads CMP takes a “regionwide” approach to identify and address congestion concerns.  The CMP develops a “toolbox” of strategies to address the most congested locations.  Since we cannot simply build our way out of congestion, all strategies must be considered, with adding roadway capacity as a last resort.  The CMP ranked corridors based on congestion and a variety of other criterion, including freight, safety, and military significance (see CMP Congested Corridors table).  For each top CMP Congested Corridor, this report provides congestion mitigation strategies and recommended improvements for these locations.

The final version of the Hampton Roads CMP report (ID: T14-12) was approved by the HRTPO Board at its October meeting and is now available on the HRTPO website at http://www.hrtpo.org/page/technical-reports/.

Top CMP Congested Corridors

Background Map Source:  Google.