US 17 enters Virginia at the North Carolina state line adjacent to the Dismal Swamp Canal in a rural area east of Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and northwest of Elizabeth City. The U.S. Highway heads north through the city of Chesapeake as George Washington Highway, a four-lane divided highway that veers away from the canal and passes by Chesapeake Regional Airport. North of the highway's split with US 17 Business, which follows George Washington Highway through the Chesapeake community of Deep Creek, US 17 curves northeast as Dominion Boulevard and reduces to two lanes. The highway temporarily expands to a divided highway around its intersection with SR 165 (Cedar Road), then crosses the Southern Branch Elizabeth River on the newly constructed Veterans Bridge, replacing the former double-leaf bascule drawbridge known commonly as the Steel Bridge. US 17 meets the southern end of SR 166 (Bainbridge Boulevard) just north of the bridge.