It extends from an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) in the independent city of Richmond north to an intersection with U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in the Lakeside area of central Henrico County.

The state route curves through the Phillip Morris area then crosses over CSX's Bellwood Subdivision to an intersection with Jefferson Davis Highway (US 1/US 301).

The state route then pass a partial cloverleaf interchange with Hopkins Road before approaching the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center at SR 10 (Broad Rock Boulevard).

The bridge crosses over Norfolk Southern Railway's Richmond District, James River, and CSX's Rivanna Subdivision before reaching the toll plaza.

Upon reaching the intersection of Westwood Avenue with the southeast leg being Brookland Parkway, the highway changes names to Hermitage Road.

The highway heads north through a residential zone to another interchange with I-95 (southbound only) to I-64 (I-95 exit 80) before crossing into Henrico County near Joseph Bryan Park.

SR 161 enters Henrico County as a four-lane divided highway (Lakeside Avenue) through a local business area to its intersection with Dumbarton Road.

The Belt Boulevard offered an alternative to downtown Richmond's traffic, with ends at US 1 south and north of the city limits in Chesterfield and Henrico counties, respectively, at that time.

(Part of the route south of the James River was annexed from Chesterfield County in 1944; the remainder in 1970, so the road in that area is now entirely in Richmond).

A large neon sign and arrow at the intersection of Terminal Avenue and Jefferson Davis Highway on the southwest corner urged northbound motorists to consider the bypass.

It followed Terminal Avenue northwesterly in Chesterfield County to a short road section actually named Belt Boulevard, which it followed about a mile, meeting State Route 10 and sharing it around the north side of the former Speedway which was located at the current site of McGuire Hospital.

At this location, Belt Boulevard crossed the Southern Railway (along the south bank), the James River, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and James River and Kanawha Canal (along the north bank) via the Boulevard Bridge, with tolls collected initially at a midpoint on the narrow two-lane bridge itself.

the roadway entered Henrico County on Lakeside Avenue near the main entrance to the city's Joseph Bryan Park.

The area in between these two points along Belt Boulevard was to become valuable commercial property, anchored by the massive Southside Plaza Shopping Center in 1957.

In a short time, the equivalent of a small town business district materialized, even as the road changed from a through traffic bypass to a suburban connector street.