Norfolk Light Rail Transit is a $230 million project proposed to extend 7.4 miles from the Eastern Virginia Medical Center through downtown Norfolk along the I-264 corridor to Newtown Road within the city of Norfolk. The project sponsor is Hampton Roads Transit (HRT), the region’s transit provider headquartered in Hampton, VA. Eleven stations will be constructed along the alignment with four park and ride locations that provide access to the system in major areas such as Norfolk State University, Harbor Park, City Hall, MacArthur Center, Tidewater Community College (Norfolk Campus) and the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The system would use a combination of city streets and the existing rail corridor purchased from Norfolk Southern; it will carry approximately 11,500 people per day.

The Norfolk Light Rail Transit Project has progressed through the Preliminary Engineering phase of the FTA “New Starts” process, the process through which all transit projects must proceed in order to receive federal funding. The project, which emerged in 2000, has overcome some very significant hurdles in the last 12 months that has allowed it to advance. In October 2005, the project received a positive rating from the FTA for the first time in two years. Then, in November 2005, the City of Norfolk and Norfolk Southern Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding that set forth the conditions for the sale of the Norfolk Southern-owned right-of-way to the City of Norfolk for the light rail project. Then, in February 2006, the project was included in President Bush’s Budget Recommendations for FY2007, alongside four other major projects: Northern Virginia, New York City, Seattle and Washington DC. Finally, in April 2006, HRT received the Record of Decision from the FTA, which gives final environmental clearance for the project indicating it has satisfied all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.

About 56% of the project capital costs are expected to be paid with federal funds. The remainder of the $230 million would be paid through state and local funding. HRT expects the project to advance to the Final Design phase in 2006, begin construction in 2007, and be operational in late 2009. Hampton Roads Transit believes that Norfolk Light Rail is the beginning of what will eventually become a regional light rail system in Hampton Roads. There is already federal authorization for Preliminary Engineering of an extension to Naval Station Norfolk.