Virginia Beach Boulevard

I-64 (Hampton Roads Beltway)
SR 165 (Kempsville Rd.)
SR 190 (Witchduck Rd.)
SR 225 (Independence Blvd.)
SR 279 (Great Neck Road)
I-264
I-64 (Hampton Roads Beltway) SR 165 (Kempsville Rd.); SR 190 (Witchduck Rd.); SR 225 (Independence Blvd.); SR 279 (Great Neck Road); I-264;
East end	17th Street & Baltic Ave., Virginia Beach Oceanfront
Location
Country	United States
Highway system
	United States Numbered Highway System; List; Special; Divided;

Virginia Beach Boulevard is a major connector highway which carries

New Urbanist Town Center development of the latter as it links the two independent cities in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region in southeastern Virginia

.

The first hard-surfaced road from Norfolk to Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach Boulevard opened in July 1921. "the Boulevard" as it became widely known locally, was a major factor in the growth of the Oceanfront town and adjacent portions of the former Princess Anne County (consolidated with Virginia Beach in 1963) as automobiles replaced streetcars and trains as a preferred mode of travel.

In the late 1950s, a former airfield near the intersection with Norfolk's semi-circumferential

Virginia Beach Expressway, a toll road which was completed in 1967. Originally designated Virginia State Route 44, after the toll revenue bonds were retired, it became toll-free and was re-designated as part of Interstate 264

. However, "the Boulevard" continues to serve in many ways as Virginia Beach's equivalent of "Main Street" in the early 21st century.

History

Prior to the late 19th century, the

Pullman car

service was offered to the original landmark brick Cavalier Hotel, which attracted many affluent tourists.

In the early 20th century, rubber-tired motor vehicles emerged as preferred mode of travel for Americans, offering more personalized transportation for vacationers. Virginia Beach Boulevard was established in 1922 as a concrete roadway extending from the eastern outskirts of the City of Norfolk through formerly rural sections of Norfolk County and Princess Anne County to the reach the developing Oceanfront area. The new roadway provided a major avenue of access by automobiles, buses, and trucks to the resort strip, and the areas along the route.

Over the years, Virginia Beach Boulevard was extended further into Norfolk, and widened. Service roads were built along both sides. After World War II, huge shopping complexes, JANAF Shopping Center, and Military Circle Mall were established near the junction with Military Highway. Further east, Pembroke Mall was built. Gradually, the former farmlands of the two counties gave way to development, and eventually expansion of the independent cities through annexations and consolidations brought the borders of the cities of Virginia Beach and Norfolk together on Virginia Beach Boulevard, near Newtown Road.

Along with a more circuitous route along

Virginia Beach Expressway (now I-264) was opened as a toll road

in 1967.

Route

In modern times, Virginia Beach Boulevard remains one of the major traffic arteries and commercial corridors of the City of Virginia Beach, passing through the

New Urbanist Town Center development in the Pembroke area at Independence Boulevard. Today, almost the entire length of the Boulevard is signed U.S. Route 58. The exception is its easternmost section, just east of Great Neck Road (State Route 279). Here, Laskin Road splits from the Boulevard and takes the Route 58 designation while Virginia Beach Boulevard becomes Business U.S. Route 58

, a designation it holds until Virginia Beach Boulevard ends at Atlantic Avenue. The Virginia Beach Boulevard designation once ended several blocks before the oceanfront and the road continued as 17th Street until its physical terminus at Atlantic Avenue, but the Virginia Beach Boulevard designation has now been extended for the entire length, replacing 17th Street. (The iconic 17th Street Surf Shop has an address on Pacific Avenue.)

The only

Newtown Road, Virginia Beach Town Center, Pembroke Mall, Thalia, Lynnhaven, London Bridge, Oceana

, Laskin Road, and the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, terminating at Arctic Avenue and 19th Street.

Major intersections

County	mi^[1] ^[2]	km	Destinations	Notes
City of Virginia Beach	0.0	0.0	US 60 (Pacific Avenue)	Eastern terminus of US 58 Bus.
	2.30	3.70	SR 615 (First Colonial Road)
	3.97	6.39	US 58 west / I-264 west (Virginia Beach/Norfolk Expressway) – Norfolk	Westbound access only; western terminus of US 58 west
	3.97	6.39	US 58 east (Laskin Road)	Virginia Beach Boulevard continues as US 58 Bus.; US 58 turns onto Laskin Road
	4.11	6.61	SR 279 (North Great Neck Road)
	4.19	6.74	Lynnhaven Parkway South	Formerly SR 414, designation removed January 2001
	6.19	9.96	South Rosemont Road	Formerly SR 411; designation removed January 2001
	9.13	14.69	SR 225 (Independence Boulevard)
	10.24	16.48	SR 190 (Witchduck Road)
	11.57	18.62	SR 403 south (Newtown Road)
City of Norfolk	12.50	20.12	SR 165 (Kempsville Road)
	13.29	21.39	US 13 (Military Highway)	Single-point urban interchange
	15.52	24.98	SR 405 south (Ballentine Boulevard)
	16.48	26.52	SR 166 (Park Avenue)
	17.01	27.37	SR 168 (Tidewater Drive)	Semi-roundabout interchange
	17.71	28.50	US 58 east / US 460 (Church Street)	Western end of US 58 concurrency; US 58 continues south on Church Street
	17.90	28.81	West Olney Road	Western terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access Route transition