State Route 156 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 57.38 miles (92.34 km) from U.S. Route 301 and SR 35 in Templeton north to US 360 Business in Mechanicsville. SR 156 follows a circuitous route through the eastern part of the Richmond–Petersburg metropolitan area. South of the James River, the state highway connects Templeton in Prince George County with Hopewell, which is directly served by SR 156 Business. SR 156 crosses the James River on the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge and briefly passes through Charles City County. For most of its length in Henrico and Hanover, the state highway is a rural road that provides access to several units of Richmond National Battlefield Park. However, SR 156 provides access to Richmond International Airport, Interstate 64 (I-64), and I-295 as it passes through the Richmond suburbs of Sandston and Highland Springs as a major highway.

U.S. Route 301 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Sarasota, Florida, to Biddles Corner, Delaware. In Virginia, the U.S. Highway runs 142.70 miles (229.65 km) from the North Carolina state line near Skippers north to the Maryland state line at the Potomac River near Dahlgren. US 301 forms the local complement to Interstate 95 (I-95) from Emporia to Petersburg. The U.S. Highway runs concurrently with US 1 between Petersburg and the state capital of Richmond, where the highways form one of the main north–south avenues. US 301 continues north concurrent with Virginia State Route 2 to Bowling Green, forming an eastern alternative to I-95 and US 1 north of Richmond. At Bowling Green, which is connected to I-95 by SR 207, US 301 becomes the primary highway connecting Richmond and the Northern Neck with Southern Maryland. US 301 was constructed in four main segments: as the original SR 24 and then US 17-1 south of Petersburg, as US 1 from Petersburg to Richmond, as SR 2 from Richmond to Bowling Green, and as part of SR 207 toward Dahlgren. US 301 replaced US 17–1 in the early 1930s and was extended from Petersburg north along its current course into Maryland when the Potomac River Bridge was completed in 1940.