 Route 168 was part of a system of state-funded highway improvements after World War II which preceded the federally funded Interstate Highway System in Virginia.It provided substantial traffic relief to a number of heavily traveled older U.S. highways, notably including U.S. Route 60 on the Virginia Peninsula and U.S. Route 460 in the Cities of Norfolk and South Norfolk and U.S. Route 17 in Norfolk County (now City of Chesapeake) in South Hampton Roads.In Chesapeake, the route originally ran along New Green Sea Road, now known as Battlefield Boulevard, due to its proximity from the Battle of Great Bridge.