The Midtown Tunnel carries U.S. Highway 58 across the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River in the South Hampton Roads area of Virginia, US. It links the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk. Owned by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), it is operated and maintained by Elizabeth River Crossings under a 58-year public–private partnership concession agreement. Formerly a toll-free facility, open road tolling was implemented on February 1, 2014 by VDOT to help finance repairs and expansion to the tunnel. History The two-lane Midtown Tunnel was completed September 6, 1962, supplementing the Downtown Tunnel and the Berkley Bridge. It was the second fixed crossing directly between Portsmouth and Norfolk across the Elizabeth River. It was financed and built by the Elizabeth River Tunnel Commission with toll revenue bonds. In 1988 and 1989, during an expansion of I-264, the Downtown Tunnel and the Berkley Bridge were rebuilt and expanded. Tolls were also removed from the Midtown and Downtown tunnels at that time. Prior to 2007, the westbound lane of US Route 58, right before the tunnel's entry, had an HOV lane that spanned a total of 25 yards. Until its removal during construction in 2007, this lane allowed HOV traffic to merge in right at the tunnel entrance. The need for expanded capacity at the Midtown Tunnel location has been well known and documented for decades, but developing a successful funding strategy to expand the tunnel has remained elusive over time. In 2006, the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) undertook a study to determine the feasibility of utilizing toll financing to support the region's high priority unfunded transportation projects, which included the Midtown Tunnel Project. This analysis concluded that the development and enhancements of the Midtown Tunnel and MLK Freeway Extension projects could be financially feasible if tolls were also collected to supplement inadequate public funds. This would include tolling the parallel Downtown Tunnel to create a congestion management plan to prevent the diversion of potential Midtown Tunnel traffic to a competing free facility. Issues Congestion During its first year of operation, 8,400 vehicles per day crossed through the tunnel. As port traffic expanded between Norfolk International Terminals and Portsmouth Marine Terminal during the 1980s, tunnel volumes increased year over year, reaching 40,000 vehicles per day in 2013, 3% of which is at least a truck with one trailer (as is typical of trucks leaving the port). As this number