grew, Military Circle Mall (Norfolk's first indoor shopping mall in 1970), Best Square Shopping Center and other large developments soon located nearby. These brought thousands of additional people into the area to live, work and shop. With the influx of people came even more cars. The road was the site of the first Econo-Travel motel, which grew to become a major national motel chain (now Econolodge). Even with the new Interstate Highways in the area built beginning in the 1960s, by the 1980s, more than 50,000 vehicles traveled along Military Highway daily with 67,000 vehicles expected by the year 2010. The old "super" highway could no longer support the increased traffic volumes. The existing lanes were insufficient to handle the traffic and the bridges, especially at the Military Highway/Virginia Beach Boulevard cloverleaf, which had physically deteriorated to a point where restricting commercial vehicles, due to their weight, and reduction of speed was necessary. Reconstruction work began in 1985, and the busiest sections of the Military Highway, mostly a local thoroughfare, were modernized. Route description Military Highway effectively begins in Suffolk outside the Hampton Roads Executive Airport, picking up the designations of U.S. 13, U.S. 460, and U.S. 58 from Portsmouth Boulevard. It continues generally northeastward as West Military Highway, crossing under and interchanging in Bowers Hill with I-664 (which shortly thereafter splits in its own Y-interchange with I-264 and I-64). It also intersects in this same area with Airline Boulevard, to which it loses US 58. After this complex set of interchanges and intersections, it becomes South Military Highway and turns southeastward, paralleling I-64 before crossing under it 2 miles later. It then continues east through Chesapeake, intersecting George Washington Highway (US 17) and crosses the Southern Branch Elizabeth River on the Gilmerton Bridge. After crossing the river, the road loses U.S. 460 to Bainbridge Blvd (SR 166), and continues through its interchange with I-464, paralleling I-64 for the rest of its journey through Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. Military Highway then crosses under and interchanges with State Route 168 at Battlefield Boulevard on a cloverleaf interchange, and then expands to six lanes, which continues until it narrows back to four lanes after Greenbrier Parkway. After Greenbrier Parkway, the highway continues on a north-northeasterly heading through Chesapeake until it enters the city of Virginia Beach (and subsequently re-expanding to six lanes) and intersects at Indian River Road (to SR 407), where