NORFOLK, VA – The Port of Virginia today continued its capital reinvestment program as federal, state and port leaders gathered to break ground on a critical infrastructure project that will improve throughput of trucks at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT). The officials several port partners, industry leaders and elected officials gathered at NIT to mark the beginning of construction on the North Gate Complex that when complete, will provide 22 lanes of ingress and egress to the terminal’ s North Berth. The project will more than double the gate capacity at NI T . “This project is key to improving our delivery of service to the motor carriers,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA). “We made a commitment and this is follow-through, but there is another important component to this project that will provide quicker access to the Interstate.” In addition to the North Gate project, the officials also broke ground on the I-564 Connector, a project that will provide users of the new North Gate safe, quick and direct access to I-564. Moreover, The $169 million I-564 Connector is a project of the Virginia Department of Transportation. United States Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, US Maritime Administrator Paul N. “Chip” Jaenichen, Virginia Gov. Terry N. McAuliffe, Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey L. Layne, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, Virginia Department of Transportation Commissioner Charles Kilpatrick and Director of Project Delivery Norfolk Naval Station personnel and this road realignment will alleviate congestion and improve the level of service on city and the naval station’s streets. The $31 million North Gate project is being paid for, in part, with money the port received last September from the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery – TIGER – grant program. The port received $15 million in grant money and will invest $16 million of its own money in the project. “We are grateful to US Department of Transportation for its careful consideration of our application and overriding need for this project,” Reinhart said. “We just completed our best fiscal-year performance on record – 2.5 million TEUs – and the need for an improved North Gate that provides safe, direct access to the interstate is greater than ever.” “The Port of Virginia is growing and projects like this will help us keep pace and provide the necessary access to deliver the goods coming through this port to manufacturers and consumers throughout our market,” Layne said. Work on the North gate Complex is underway and is scheduled to be complete late next summer; construction on the I-564 Connector begins this fall.