Has anyone been through the 291B exit off 64 in VABeach recently? My son and his family are heading down Saturday driving his big pickup and hauling a large trailer on their way to Ocracoke. I know that exit has been a real mess for a couple of months. We came down early May and got caught in it. It was horrible!!
I just want to give him a heads up if it’s still a disaster.
I think someone mentioned they missed it and took the next exit and it worked out pretty well.

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Living close to that exit I go through it often. The best answer is it depends on the time and the day you go through. Saturdays, Sundays and evening rush hours are the worst.

An alternate would be get off at 286B and go a short distance to Centerville Tpk, make a right and go south for about 12 miles to Battlefield Blvd.

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Thank you, chief
I’ll pass that along

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I would take 289B, Greenbrier Parkway south. Follow it straight down, it becomes Butts Station Road. At the end of that, take a left on Centerville Turnpike. It runs into south Battlefield. This avoids the drawbridge on Centerville and the mess on 64 near 291

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I would take 289B, Greenbrier Parkway south. Follow it straight down, it becomes Butts Station Road. At the end of that, take a left on Centerville Turnpike. It runs into south Battlefield. This avoids the drawbridge on Centerville and the mess on 64 near 291

That would work too, but I am not a fan of the traffic around the mall and you still have to go over the ICW Centerville drawbridge. Both ways have a number of traffic lights to deal with.

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Has anyone been through the 291B exit off 64 in VABeach recently?

That has always been a challenging interchange for some. If you are timid entering interstates on the on-ramp and don't aggressively speed up to merge, you're not going to navigate that exit very well. I think the powers that be up there are thinking of re-doing that intersection.

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Living close to that exit I go through it often. The best answer is it depends on the time and the day you go through. Saturdays, Sundays and evening rush hours are the worst.

An alternate would be get off at 286B and go a short distance to Centerville Tpk, make a right and go south for about 12 miles to Battlefield Blvd.

Is earlier the better on Saturday morning going through 291B? I'll probably hit that about 7 or so this Sat. Thanks!

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Has anyone been through the 291B exit off 64 in VABeach recently? My son and his family are heading down Saturday driving his big pickup and hauling a large trailer on their way to Ocracoke. I know that exit has been a real mess for a couple of months. We came down early May and got caught in it. It was horrible!!
I just want to give him a heads up if it’s still a disaster.
I think someone mentioned they missed it and took the next exit and it worked out pretty well.

Have they changed it in the last year?


Been using that exit for years, always thought it was a PITA since you have traffic merging in while you are trying to get off. Just need to be careful and make sure you are in the right lane in plenty of time.

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Has anyone been through the 291B exit off 64 in VABeach recently? My son and his family are heading down Saturday driving his big pickup and hauling a large trailer on their way to Ocracoke. I know that exit has been a real mess for a couple of months. We came down early May and got caught in it. It was horrible!!
I just want to give him a heads up if it’s still a disaster.
I think someone mentioned they missed it and took the next exit and it worked out pretty well.

Have they changed it in the last year?


Been using that exit for years, always thought it was a PITA since you have traffic merging in while you are trying to get off. Just need to be careful and make sure you are in the right lane in plenty of time.

It is still a PITA, but with the construction on the 64 it is a bit more. I have not heard that they are redoing the exit, but that would be awesome. A dedicated exit for the bypass would be the ticket.

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Living close to that exit I go through it often. The best answer is it depends on the time and the day you go through. Saturdays, Sundays and evening rush hours are the worst.

An alternate would be get off at 286B and go a short distance to Centerville Tpk, make a right and go south for about 12 miles to Battlefield Blvd.

Is earlier the better on Saturday morning going through 291B? I'll probably hit that about 7 or so this Sat. Thanks!

If you hit it AT 7:00 I would go that way but you never know. If there is no accident it should not be an issue. The challenge is getting into the exit lane then make the dive from the right lane to the most left lane while people are trying to get on to the 64 the 168 and the 17 from the 464.

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That 5 minutes of driving (out of the whole trip down) terrifies me!
My son has a Sunday turn day and has decided to leave later Saturday and stay over somewhere right after crossing the CBBT. Hopefully getting an early start on Sunday will make a difference, but he’s going to map out the other options folks here have suggested.
It’s him, his wife, their two little girls(my grand babies) and their dog. He’s driving a huge pick up and hauling a huge trailer. I’m nervous just thinking about it.
Thanks for all the input. I knew I could count on you guys.

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The challenge is getting into the exit lane then make the dive from the right lane to the most left lane while people are trying to get on to the 64 the 168 and the 17 from the 464.

Thanks for the explanation. I have driven that area a lot in the past and several times in the past 2 years and never remembered it being an issue and couldn't spot anything on Google Maps. However, I've never driven it between mid-May and late-August. I see on Google Maps now there's at most 1/4 mile to make that lane shift!

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We came thru in late July around 3am no issue but again we travel over night to avoid all the traffic

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When its finished it should be a lot better. Looks like they’re gonna do a flyover from westbound 64 that’ll put you right on the Chesapeake Expwy. In the left hand lane…..you should be able to keep your eyes open the whole time.

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When its finished it should be a lot better. Looks like they’re gonna do a flyover from westbound 64 that’ll put you right on the Chesapeake Expwy. In the left hand lane…..you should be able to keep your eyes open the whole time.

It should be a lot better.

Just for confusing clarification, that section of the 64 that goes westbound is actually called eastbound. This is because the majority of the 64 where it starts at the 81 is eastbound and the last shorter section is westbound but labeled eastbound. Yes, hurts my head too.

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Yikes!

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When its finished it should be a lot better. Looks like they’re gonna do a flyover from westbound 64 that’ll put you right on the Chesapeake Expwy. In the left hand lane…..you should be able to keep your eyes open the whole time.

It should be a lot better.

Just for confusing clarification, that section of the 64 that goes westbound is actually called eastbound. This is because the majority of the 64 where it starts at the 81 is eastbound and the last shorter section is westbound but labeled eastbound. Yes, hurts my head too.

So true. In 1975 (pre cell phone, pre 911) I got hired as a State Police dispatcher at the 5th Division HQ on Military Hwy. It was commonplace for callers to report crashes in the wrong direction. Two new things coming on-line helped tremendously, mile markers, and beginning to refer to I-64 as the Outer Loop or Inter Loop. I see now VDOT has posted loop direction signs on the shoulder between mile post 291 - 299. Now tell me since you live there, why didn't they replace the eastbound span of the high-rise bridge?!

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Just heard from our son who is on his way to OI.
Last night they stayed in Chesapeake to break up the trip. They bypassed exit 291B this morning. He didn’t say how they went but I’ll check in with him in that after they get settled in to their rental.
Thanks for the help everyone!

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Years ago I wrote a letter to the editor at the Virginian Pilot and they published it.

I suggested they should do what many cities do: Set up "Loops". My home town, Rochester, NY has an interstate road coming up from the NYS Thruway from the South East and then down to the Thruway to the South West. I-490.
It connects with 2 "Loops", The inner and outer loop. Many cities do this, think of Wash DC, Philly, ect.

What I suggested in my letter was to terminate I-64 East right where I-664 connects in Hampton. Then name the entire Loop from there ALL the way around as I-664. Then no more confusion with East and West. (Loops don't have a direction, they just go round and round!) Of course nothing became of my letter!

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Years ago I wrote a letter to the editor at the Virginian Pilot and they published it.

I suggested they should do what many cities do: Set up "Loops". My home town, Rochester, NY has an interstate road coming up from the NYS Thruway from the South East and the down to the Thruway to the South West. I-490.
It connects with 2 "Loops", The inner and outer loop. Many cities do this, think of Wash DC, Philly, ect.

What I suggested in my letter was to terminate I-64 East right where I-664 connects in Hampton. Then name the entire Loop from there ALL the way around as I-664. Then no more confusion with East and West. (Loops don't have a direction, they just go round and round!) Of course nothing became of my letter!

Maybe it did...see my comments above.

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When its finished it should be a lot better. Looks like they’re gonna do a flyover from westbound 64 that’ll put you right on the Chesapeake Expwy. In the left hand lane…..you should be able to keep your eyes open the whole time.

It should be a lot better.

Just for confusing clarification, that section of the 64 that goes westbound is actually called eastbound. This is because the majority of the 64 where it starts at the 81 is eastbound and the last shorter section is westbound but labeled eastbound. Yes, hurts my head too.

So true. In 1975 (pre cell phone, pre 911) I got hired as a State Police dispatcher at the 5th Division HQ on Military Hwy. It was commonplace for callers to report crashes in the wrong direction. Two new things coming on-line helped tremendously, mile markers, and beginning to refer to I-64 as the Outer Loop or Inter Loop. I see now VDOT has posted loop direction signs on the shoulder between mile post 291 - 299. Now tell me since you live there, why didn't they replace the eastbound span of the high-rise bridge?!

There are some mysteries in life that are not meant to be answered.

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When its finished it should be a lot better. Looks like they’re gonna do a flyover from westbound 64 that’ll put you right on the Chesapeake Expwy. In the left hand lane…..you should be able to keep your eyes open the whole time.

It should be a lot better.

Just for confusing clarification, that section of the 64 that goes westbound is actually called eastbound. This is because the majority of the 64 where it starts at the 81 is eastbound and the last shorter section is westbound but labeled eastbound. Yes, hurts my head too.

So true. In 1975 (pre cell phone, pre 911) I got hired as a State Police dispatcher at the 5th Division HQ on Military Hwy. It was commonplace for callers to report crashes in the wrong direction. Two new things coming on-line helped tremendously, mile markers, and beginning to refer to I-64 as the Outer Loop or Inter Loop. I see now VDOT has posted loop direction signs on the shoulder between mile post 291 - 299. Now tell me since you live there, why didn't they replace the eastbound span of the high-rise bridge?!

There are some mysteries in life that are not meant to be answered.

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