independent cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia. Until 1999, it was signed as State Route 44 (SR 44). Built and funded with toll revenue bonds, it opened on December 1, 1967, as SR 44. The expressway ran from an interchange with I-64 and I-264 in Norfolk almost due east to the oceanfront area of Virginia Beach. The original road had four lanes (two each way). It was widened to six lanes in the 1980s and to eight lanes in the early 1990s. A two-tier toll structure existed, with lower tolls for those who passed the main toll barrier between Rosemont Road and Independence Boulevard. Technical errors were common; alarms installed to alert police of a nonpaying motorist would often be activated by the machine's failure to detect the insertion of the proper toll. On June 1, 1995, the bonds were retired, and tolls and toll booths were removed in 1996. In July 1999, the former Virginia Beach Expressway was renumbered to I-264, effectively creating an eastward continuation of the original I-264, which ran through the downtown areas of Portsmouth and Norfolk and ended at I-64 (where the expressway began). This is now the point where I-264 intersects and crosses the I-64 portion of the Hampton Roads Beltway near Military Circle Mall in Norfolk. Exit list See also Norfolk-Portsmouth Bridge-Tunnel Berkley Bridge Downtown Tunnel References External links Virginia Highways Project: I-264 Roads to the Future: Interstate 264 in Virginia 64-2 64-2 Virginia Interstate 264 Interstate 264 Interstate 264 Interstate 264 History of Virginia Beach, Virginia 2 (Virginia)