As originally built, the road was earlier known as "Military Highway", a name it shared with another roadway in South Hampton Roads which was built beginning in 1943.
The Merrimack Trail portion of VA-168 extended on the Virginia Peninsula from Anderson Corner near Toano to a crossing of Hampton Roads to South Hampton Roads by ferry, prior to the opening of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel on November 1, 1957.
It included all the area in South Hampton Roads now incorporated in the five independent cities located there in modern times.
South Africa | New South Wales | South Korea | South Australia | South America | South Carolina | South Dakota | University of New South Wales | South Island | South India | South Park | South Vietnam | South Yorkshire | Newcastle, New South Wales | South Wales | South Asia | South Shetland Islands | South Pacific | South | South Tyrol | South by Southwest | Ryde, New South Wales | Governor of New South Wales | Columbia, South Carolina | New South Wales Legislative Assembly | South Pole | University of South Florida | South London | University of South Carolina | South Sudan |
had added to traffic, as well as the growing Virginia Peninsula area, connecting via harbor ferry with similarly designated roads in South Hampton Roads.
A portion of the line in the cities of Suffolk and western Chesapeake has been included in studies by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation of the feasibility of Richmond-South Hampton Roads High Speed Passenger Rail service.