On Friday, August 26th, 2011, many residents and tourists evacuated Hampton Roads in advance of Hurricane Irene, which came ashore the following day. News reports showed long lines of cars and trucks at the regional gateways heading for inland destinations.
Traffic volumes leaving Hampton Roads that Friday at the three busiest regional gateways - Interstate 64, US Route 58, and US Route 460 - were 37% higher than on the same Friday in 2010. A total of 80,300 vehicles exited the region through these three gateways on August 26th, 2011, which was 21,800 more vehicles than exited the region through these gateways the year before.
The gateway that saw the largest increase in traffic volumes was Route 460. 7,788 more vehicles used westbound Route 460 the day before Irene than used westbound Route 460 on the same Friday in 2010, a 126% increase. Route 58 carried 7,744 additional vehicles (an increase of 61%), while I-64 actually had the smallest increase at 6,288 additional vehicles (+16%).
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