[citation needed] The I-581 designation ends at the Elm Avenue (State Route 24 (SR 24)) interchange in downtown Roanoke, where US 220 continues south as the Roy L. Webber Expressway.

Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport, Valley View Mall, and Berglund Center are all located adjacent to I-581.

In 2002, local CBS affiliate WDBJ constructed its new facility, designed to broadcast in HDTV, on Hershberger Road near I-581.

In 1980, the highway was extended approximately 3.3 miles (5.3 km) from the Elm Avenue interchange to SR 419 near Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke County.

Since the extension was not constructed to full Interstate Highway standards,[2] it only carried the US 220 designation and was named the Roy L. Webber Expressway after a former mayor of Roanoke.