NORFOLK, Va. — Cities nationwide with a significant presence of government workers are facing traffic challenges, and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base, is no exception. This situation follows President Trump’s executive order to end remote work for federal employees.
With 60,000 military and 25,000 civilian personnel stationed at the base, officials at Naval Station Norfolk recently posted a warning on social media about an anticipated increase in traffic.
In a recent social media post, Naval Station Norfolk explained:
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“To facilitate the traffic, the installation will have the following gates open during the morning rush hours:
Airfield Area – Gates 4 and 22
Core Area – Gates 2 and 3A
Waterfront Area – Gates 1, 5, and 6”
On social media, some drivers have requested further measures. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the base confirmed that Gate 10 is not currently open.
They wrote, “One additional gate, Gate 1, was opened last Monday, February 3, to accommodate port loading and the return to in-person work. The Naval Station Norfolk Security Department works diligently each day to ensure a timely, efficient, and, most importantly, safe access to Naval Station Norfolk.”
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Driver Melanie McCollum remarked, “It’s crazier than normal when people were teleworking and didn’t have to come in. So now, everybody’s back to work and we’re fighting traffic to get to work.”
McCollum is a government employee adjusting to full-time office work. She added, “I had like two days a week of teleworking, which made it easy on the gas.”
She also mentioned her former ability to gauge traffic based on ship arrivals.
“We could tell, ‘Oh, a ship is in’ versus ‘everybody’s at work, plus all the ships are in!’ Yeah, that creates a lot of hectic traffic.”
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A spokesperson for Hampton Roads Transit said they are working closely with Naval Station Norfolk, and they have an office at the base to assist with transportation needs. HRT indicated a spike in inquiries this week regarding vanpools and confirmed that they operate two bus lines serving the base daily:
A NSN spokesperson says another factor possibly affecting traffic is the annual force protection exercise called Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain.
