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.

From I-64 in Chesapeake, Route 168 follows several roads until it crosses into the City of Norfolk and eventually runs along Tidewater Drive (following the path of the earlier Cottage Toll Road) until reaching its terminus at West Ocean View Avenue (U.S. Route 60) near Fourth View Street in the Willoughby Spit area.

The Route 168 designation formerly continued northwesterly along West Ocean View Avenue and crossed the Hampton Roads Ferry System from Willoughby Bay to Old Point Comfort in the Town of Phoebus in Elizabeth City County (communities which were consolidated into the newly enlarged City of Hampton in 1952).

When it first opened to traffic on November 1, 1957, the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel originally carried the VA-168 designation (as a toll facility).

The SR 168 designation also formerly applied to a routing on the Virginia Peninsula from Anderson's Corner near Toano west of Williamsburg to the Hampton Roads Ferry landing at Old Point Comfort near Fort Monroe.

Built to freeway standards, the expressway travels from the US 17, I-64, and I-464 interchange in northern Chesapeake southward to near the North Carolina border in the far southern part of the city.

The one toll plaza is located near Indian Creek Road with the freeway portion ending at Battlefield Boulevard (SR 168 Bus.)

This highway is often used to avoid the toll on the main expressway—drivers travelling North make a left turn at VA 168 Business, then enter the expressway at Hillcrest Parkway.

Owned and operated by the city of Norfolk, it serves as an alternate route to the Berkley Bridge, which also crosses the same span of water on Interstate 264.