To help alleviate the problems, in 1955 the Virginia General Assembly created a political subdivision, the Richmond Petersburg Turnpike Authority.

Some Chesterfield County and Colonial Heights land deeds still reference the name Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike for properties along Jefferson Davis Highway.

As earlier feared, hotels, motels, tourist homes and cabins, and restaurants along the bypassed highways suffered tremendous loss of business, and many failed.

The construction of the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike in the 1950s led to the destruction of many blocks of homes and businesses in Jackson Ward, Richmond's oldest historically African-American community.

[citation needed] As was common in mid-century planning practices, lower class or black neighborhoods were often targeted and destroyed, such as the Hayti community of Durham North Carolina.

[citation needed] This highway, along with the construction of Richmond's Downtown Expressway, were large factors in the decline and subsequent decay in many urban areas of the city.

The improvements included widening to six lanes of 22 miles (35 km) from just south of the James River Bridge at Richmond and complete reconstruction of the I-85 and I-95 interchange in downtown Petersburg.

Tolls were removed from all portions of the former Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike in 1992, although the road now connects with several newer locally oriented toll facilities, including Richmond Metropolitan Authority's Downtown Expressway (State Route 195) which interchanges with the former Turnpike on the I-95 James River Bridge, and the Pocahontas Parkway (State Route 895) which connects I-95 at exit 67 with Interstate 295 and the Richmond International Airport.

The original office building with the iconic "Richmond Petersburg Turnpike" lettering was located at exit 61A on southbound Interstate 95 and was used by VDOT until it was demolished in 2021 during improvements to the interchange.