They named the two flanking Virginia points of land /capes like gateposts at the entrance to the long extensive estuary after the sons of their king, James I, the southern Cape Henry, for the eldest and presumed heir, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the northern Cape Charles, for his younger brother, Charles, Duke of York (the future King Charles I). After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from England, they reached the New World at the southern edge of the mouth of what is now known as the Chesapeake Bay. In December 1606, the Virginia Company of London sent an expedition to North America to establish a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. The CBBT is often confused with the similarly named Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which crosses the Chesapeake Bay farther north in Maryland in Annapolis, near the United States Naval Academy. In 2002, a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly concluded that "given the inability of the state to fund future capital requirements of the CBBT, the District and Commission should be retained to operate and maintain the Bridge–Tunnel as a toll facility in perpetuity". Its construction was financed by toll revenue bonds, while operating and maintenance expenses are recovered through tolls. The CBBT was built and is operated by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia governed by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation. As of January 2021, over 140 million vehicles have crossed the CBBT. It carries US 13, which saves motorists roughly 95 miles (153 km) and 1 + 1⁄ 2 hours on trips between Hampton Roads and the Delaware Valley compared with other routes through the Washington–Baltimore Metropolitan Area. With 12 miles (19 km) of bridges and two one-mile-long (1.6 km) tunnels, the CBBT is one of only 14 bridge–tunnel systems in the world and one of three in Hampton Roads. A major project to dualize its bridges was completed in 1999, and a similar project to dualize one of its tunnels is currently underway. It opened in 1964, replacing ferries that had operated since the 1930s. Bridge–Tunnel) is a 17.6-mile (28.3 km) bridge–tunnel that crosses the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay between Delmarva and Hampton Roads in the U.S. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel ( CBBT, officially the Lucius J. Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth to Cape Charles, Virginia, U.S.Ĭhesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commissionįixed link: low-level trestle, 2 single-tube tunnels connected by artificial islands, truss bridges, high-level trestleĪpril 15, 1964 59 years ago ( ) (northbound)Īpril 19, 1999 24 years ago ( ) (southbound)Ĭars $14 (Each direction & off-peak.
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